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GM laying off 500 workers to slow Chevy Sonic production

Due to slow sales of the Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Verano, General Motors is cutting a shift at the Orion Township plant that builds the pair. The move lays off about 500 workers, but most of them are expected to get offers to transfer to other factories, Automotive News reports. The move came just a day after GM announced adding 1,200 employees to the Detroit-Hamtramck plant. GM has been trying all year at the Orion Township factory to align production of the Sonic and Verano with their demand. The automaker first attempted idling the plant several times and eventually resorted to laying off about 100 workers. It also reduced the production rate there. With the huge rise in popularity of crossovers, demand for the plant's small cars is on the downturn. According to Automotive News, there's currently a 116-day supply of Sonics and 100 days of Veranos to sell. Delivers tell a similar tale because the Chevy is off 35.2 percent from January to September, and the Buick does little better with a 27.2 percent drop from the same period last year. While the situation at Orion Township might look rough now, big things are on the horizon. Soon, the new Chevy Bolt electric vehicle will be built there when it hits the market around 2017. Plus, the plant will also get a $245-million upgrade and 300 new jobs for another, unannounced vehicle.

What we know, and think we know, about the 2016 Chevy Volt

With the next-gen Chevy Volt due to make an appearance at the Detroit Auto Show early next year, bits and pieces about the new car are making their way into the press. Perhaps most importantly, the new Volt is going to have better "fuel economy and efficiency," according to GM executive vice president Mark Reuss. The current Volt gets 98 MPGe and 37 miles per gallon on premium fuel. It also has a 38-mile electric-only range. We don't know how GM will improve the efficiency or to what degree, but the logical options include making the car lighter, giving it better aerodynamics and/or improving the powertrain. To that end, one of the big things we don't know for sure includes information on the new gas-powered engine. Forbes says it will be a downsized 1.0-liter, three-cylinder mill instead of the 1.4-liter, four-cylinder used in the current model, which could certainly help the car be more efficient. The new Volt is also going to have more technology, which shouldn't surprise anyone. GM is now openly talking about how it will change the way it markets the Volt, shifting away from the mass-market mentality to focus on the regions where the car is already popular. "There's a Northeast and West Coast market for Volt, and there's nothing wrong with that," Chevy chief marketing officer Tim Mahoney told Forbes. There are rumors that the new Volt will have seating for five by adding a seat in the back. This is something a lot of current Volt owners would love, but we've heard nothing official hinting that this would be the case. We expect the battery to be the new 17.1-kWh version, or maybe even have a capacity increase, so GM would have to seriously repackage the pack to eliminate the ridge that runs from between the front seats and then back to the rear two seats. If you've heard anything official, do let us know.

The 2014 Chevrolet SS sedan is for drivers who value performance above all else

The car you see above is the 2014 Chevrolet SS, and it's important both because it is the first rear-wheel-drive performance sedan from Chevy in 17 years, and because it will be the nameplate the brand uses on NASCAR tracks all across the country starting this year.
Though it wears a name as American as baseball and apple pie, the machine was actually designed and built in Australia, sharing most of its parts with the brand-new VF-model Holden Commodore. That said, the basic chassis bits are shared with other Chevrolet models like the Camaro and Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle.
While Chevrolet is happy to sell a Malibu or Impala to anyone looking for a mainstream family sedan, but the SS is reserved for buyers interested first and foremost in performance. Most sedans sold these days are front-wheel drive, which is great for everyday driving and when the weather goes bad, but the SS is instead a rear-wheel-drive vehicle aimed at enthusiasts who love to drive and who prefer speed and performance above all else.