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GM cutting Chevy Sonic, Buick Verano production by more than 20%

General Motors' Orion Assembly plant in Michigan is seeing even more production cuts this year to further reduce inventories of the Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Verano. These latest adjustments mean layoffs for about 100 workers in phases starting in July. "GM Orion Assembly will adjust plant production capacity to better align with market demand," the company said in a statement announcing the change. Through May, sales of the Sonic are down 28.5 percent to 29,082 vehicles, and the Verano is off 15.6 percent, with 15,279 sold this year. According to unnamed plant insiders speaking to Automotive News, the assembly rate is slowing at Orion Assembly from the current 33 cars an hour down to 26 an hour, a 21-percent reduction. GM is also reportedly going to keep the plant idle for three weeks during the normal summer shutdown, rather than the usual two. Earlier in the year, the factory was idled for two weeks due to excess supply of the Sonic and Verano. In March, it was closed again for several days for the same reason. The Orion Assembly plant is the future home to the line for the Chevy Bolt EV. GM Statement: GM Orion Assembly will adjust plant production capacity to better align with market demand. A phased layoff of approximately 100 employees will begin in July 2015 and conclude by year-end. Related Video: News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Buick Chevrolet GM Hatchback Sedan buick verano orion assembly

Here are your 2016 North American Car and Truck/Utility of the Year finalists [w/polls]

The 2016 Detroit Auto Show will kick off with the announcement of the annual North American Car and Truck/Utility of the Year awards, and the three finalists in each category have just been revealed. Following this announcement, the jury – which includes Autoblog editor-in-chief Mike Austin – will re-evaluate each candidate before casting a final vote for the winner. This year's finalists are: Car of the Year Chevrolet Malibu Honda Civic Mazda MX-5 Miata Truck/Utility of the Year Honda Pilot Nissan Titan XD Volvo XC90 The 23rd annual awards will be announced on the morning of Monday, January 11. For now, we want to know where you stand. Let us know which vehicles you think should win, by voting in the polls below. Chevrolet Honda Mazda Nissan Volvo north american car of the year NACTOY

GM announces net 220 job increase as Trump visits Michigan

GM announced today that about 900 jobs would be added (or, importantly, retained) ahead of President Trump's arrival in Michigan, where he is expected to discuss his plan to roll back fuel economy standards. The timing of the announcement is almost certainly not coincidental, as appending it to a Trump visit gives it a higher profile and dovetails with the President's jobs agenda. It's less likely the decision itself was made for those reasons, but the free PR boost is a nice bonus. As for those 900 jobs themselves, they aren't all new jobs. The only net gain is approximately 220 jobs at the Romulus Powertrain Plant, which produces the 10-speed automatic transmission that's proliferating through the company's lineup. The 180 jobs at Flint Assembly and 500 jobs at Lansing Delta Township are retained jobs – that is to say, spots the company found for workers who would otherwise have been laid off. By the way, the Flint jobs will help with production of heavy-duty pickups, and the Lansing jobs are to produce the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave. Finding jobs for manufacturing workers in the auto sector, whether new or retained, is admirable. No matter how GM couches it, the company has created or retained a total of 7,000 jobs this year, and its total reinvestment in US production is around $1 billion. But these decisions are business ones, not political ones – timing the announcements to make them seem inspired by economic policy, or the political situation, is simply smart PR. Related Video: Image Credit: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images Celebrities Government/Legal Buick Cadillac Chevrolet GMC