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Here's how Detroit is selling more luxury vehicles than Germany and Japan

Now there's an attention-grabbing headline, eh? Although the answer to the riddle - pickup trucks and SUVs - might be somehow deflating, the numbers involved deserve a going over. According to TrueCar's figures (click on the table to enlarge), six of the year's ten best-selling vehicles in the US that sell for a transaction price above $50,000 are body-on-frame, and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class is the only foreigner to crack the top five. Every enthusiast knows that pickup trucks are 'Murica's most popular vehicle by a colossal margin, and there have been plenty of reports about the popularity of luxuriously appointed trucks and SUVs, but compare these figures from TrueCar: 70 percent of Chevrolet Tahoe sales have a transaction price above $50K, and The Bowtie is expected to make $3.9 billion in revenue on 66,945 predicted high-dollar sales; 95.1 percent of E-Class sales break $50K, so the German company will make $4.0 billion on 67,006 predicted sales in that pricing sphere. It's about the only time you'll see the Tahoe ranked right next to Mercedes' bread-and-butter sedan. Ram is ahead of those two with $4.2B coming from $50K-plus sales. The Ford F-Series does almost as much revenue as the next three combined, with an expected $10.8 billion coming from sales of trucks over $50K - more than a quarter of the model's total sales, when a base F-150 can be had for about $26,000. Yes, the Germans make a lot more money on fewer sales, but considering the comparison, the bottom line isn't too troubled by such facts. Weighing like-for-like, the full-size Ford walks it in every category; elsewhere, the Chevrolet Silverado outsells the Ram, but the Ram outsells the Chevy by 6.7 percent above $50K. And for all the flak GMC takes over swapping out grilles, the Sierra also outsells the Chevy in the well-appointed segment, 16.1 percent of sales versus 11 percent – the Professional Grade brand is a huge profit center for The General. You'll find more info in the TrueCar press release below. TrueCar finds pickup trucks far outsell premium brands among top 10 vehicles over $50,000 Ford F-Series pickup sales over $50,000 surpass combined BMW 3, 5, 7 Series luxury car sales SANTA MONICA, Calif. (December 10, 2014) - TrueCar, Inc., the negotiation-free car buying and selling platform, finds mainstream pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles dominate U.S.

Leak reveals GM's 2017 heavy duty diesel trucks to get 910 lb-ft of torque [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Chevrolet officially announced specs for the 2017 Silverado HD and the rumors were true. The truck's new Duramax 6.6-liter turbo-diesel V8 puts out 445 horsepower and 910 pound-feet of torque. Chevrolet says the new motor produces 19 percent more torque and 12 percent more horsepower, while producing 35 percent fewer emissions. Overall, the new engine is a big improvement over the current motor, which generates 397 horsepower and 765 pound-feet of torque. According to Truck Trend, GM's newest heavy duty pickup trucks will pick up quite a bit more power and torque. The publication spotted a recent GM Powertrain ordering catalog that had the engine specs for the 2017 model year and managed to get some screenshots before the catalog was taken down, and they can be viewed here. The screenshots revealed that the 6.6-liter turbodiesel V8 powering the Silverado and Sierra heavy duty models will boast 445 horsepower and 910 lb-ft of torque. This is a substantial gain over the current models' 397 horsepower and 765 lb-ft of torque, and as Truck Trend points out, it exceeds the Ford Super Duty line's horsepower output of 440, but comes short of the 925 lb-ft rating. Truck Trend credits part of this output gain to the new intake system GM will introduce on the 2017 heavy duties. The intake gets 60 percent of its air from a scoop on the hood, with the other 40 percent coming from behind one of the front fenders. GM doesn't reveal horsepower figures in the press release about the scoop, but it does say the cooler air helps with maintaining the engine's output, and that the scoop does produce a ram-air affect, providing more air at speed. As we know, more air plus more fuel equals more power, but there's likely more to the power increase in this engine than only the intake. Related Video: News Source: Truck Trend via MSN Chevrolet GM GMC Truck Diesel Vehicles

GM cutting Chevy Sonic, Buick Verano production [UPDATE]

UPDATE: A previous version of this story indicated that Orion Assembly would be idled for seven weeks, from February 16 through April 6. This was incorrect. The factory will instead only be idled for the weeks of February 16 and April 6. The story has been edited to reflect this. General Motors has announced that the factory responsible for the Buick Verano and Chevrolet Sonic will be idled for the weeks of February 16 and April 6, with blame being placed on excess supply. The Orion Assembly plant, about 45 minutes north of GM's Renaissance Center headquarters, employs about 1,800 people, but they'll be given a pair of furloughs as inventories of the sub-compact Sonic and premium compact Verano reach 127 days and 84 days, respectively. That works out to 26,600 Chevys and 9,800 Buicks waiting for buyers. According to Automotive News, the compact Chevy sales bested the industry average in 2014, jumping up nine percent versus the the overall segment's eight-percent gain, while the Buick sedan's sales were down four percent. When asked about the shutdown, a GM spokesman told AN that it will "build to market demand," while also pointing out that the company did not comment on production plans. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Buick Chevrolet GM buick encore orion assembly