1997 Chevrolet Silverado Extended Cab Pickup 3-door 5.7l on 2040-cars

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GM and Ford quarterly sales continue to slump in China

BEIJING — General Motors and Ford announced their quarterly sales in China fell, albeit at a slower pace sequentially, as the U.S. automakers were hit by a slowing economy amid the Sino-U.S. trade war. GM's vehicle sales in China for the quarter ended June 30 dropped 12.2%, while Ford's sales slumped by 21.7%. While GM also suffered from heightened competition in its key mid-priced SUV segment, Ford was hurt by the limited new models for customers to choose from. For the first quarter of this year, Ford's sales in China tumbled 35.8 percent while GM's skid 17.5 percent. Still, the numbers from GM, the second biggest international automaker in China by sales, and Ford portend more uncertainty for the industry which is trying to rebound from a downward spiral that led to its first annual sales decline last year in more than two decades. GM delivered 1.57 million vehicles in China in the January-June period this year, while Ford delivered 290,321 vehicles. China's factory activity shrank more than expected in June, highlighting the need for more economic stimulus amid higher U.S. tariffs and weaker domestic demand. Annual car sales in China fell last year for the first time since the 1990s, and they are expected to fall this year too. Sales tumbled 16.4% in May from the same month a year prior, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said. That marked the 11th consecutive month of decline and followed falls of 14.6% in April and 5.2% in March. U.S. car companies' share of total China passenger vehicles sales fell to 9.6% in the first five months of this year from 10.9% in the year-ago period, according to CAAM. Over the same period, German car makers' share has risen to 23.3% from 20.9% and Japanese auto makers' to 21.3% from 17.3%. CAAM is set to announce June sales next week, which industry analysts forecast will be negative.   New models In China, GM has a joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp, in which the Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac are made. It also has another venture, with SAIC and GuangxiAutomobile Group, in which they make no-frills minivans and have started to make higher-end cars. Sales of GM's affordable brand Baojun dropped 31.8% for the latest quarter. But luxury brand Cadillac's sales jumped 36.6%. GM sold 3.64 million units in China last year, down from 4.04 units in 2017. Ford makes cars in China through its joint venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co and Jiangling Motors Corp (JMC).

Sunday Drive: Performance comes in many shapes and sizes

The Chevrolet Corvette has always stood out as a bastion of reasonably priced performance, and the latest 'Vette has that in spades. And while its expected starting price of around $120,000 certainly isn't cheap, it's an undeniable deal in the supercar world – remember, this thing'll do 210 miles per hour thanks to its 755-horsepower supercharged V8 engine. And did you get a load of that massive rear wing? Team Corvette's longtime foe, the Porsche 911, is similarly hellbent on ultimate performance. And as a reminder of how long the Corvette/911 rivalry has been melting tires we present the 1990 Porsche 911 as reimagined by Singer you see below. It's beautiful, it's green, and it's packing 500 air-cooled horsepower. You don't have to burn gasoline to go fast, as proven by the second-generation Tesla Roadster, which was revealed as a surprise late last week. Elon Musk says it'll be the quickest car in the world with a 0-60 time of just 1.9 seconds. And while you may not think of a semi truck when you think speed, the Tesla Semi can do 0-60 in 5 seconds flat unloaded, or in 20 seconds with a load of 80,000 pounds. Compared to today's crop of diesel semis, that's amazing. Continuing the truck theme, we present an artists rendering of what the next-generation Ram 1500 pickup may look like. Spoiler alert: Ram's mini-semi look is giving way to something much more modern. There may even be a first-of-its-kind split tailgate at the rear. And if you don't think the Ram 1500 has anything to do with performance, we should remind you that it's one of the cheapest ways to get a tire-shredding Hemi V8 engine in America. 2019 Chevy Corvette ZR1: All hail the 755-horsepower C7 king This is the first Porsche 911 to get Singer and Williams' 500-horsepower engine Tesla Roadster surprise reveal | 'Quickest car in the world' Tesla Semi Truck revealed: Here are the key details This could be the next-generation 2019 Ram 1500 2019 Ram 1500 spotted with split tailgate

Official USPS Muscle Cars stamps coming to a mailbox near you

As much as our digital lives have cut down on our trips to the post office, there are still times that sending "snail mail" is necessary. With us car lovers in mind and philately in their hearts, the good folks at the United States Postal Service will introduce a new stamp design called "Muscle Cars" starting on February 22.
Designed by artist Tom Fritz, the new collection of stamps consist of five classic muscle cars: 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS, 1967 Shelby GT-500, 1966 Pontiac GTO and 1970 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda. In addition to just the stamps, the USPS is also commemorating the new series with plenty of collectable memorabilia. Previous car-related stamps include 50s Sporty Cars from 2005 and 50s Fins and Chrome from 2008.