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How a Texas Hyundai dealer became the Chevy SSR king

The SSR isn't one of the most appreciated vehicles in Chevy's long history. With a style amalgamating the look of a vintage hotrod, convertible and a pickup, it's really serving a niche market right from the start. However, a Hyundai dealer in Texas has turned selling the cult models into a booming business and has become the de facto king of the quirky truck. According to Automotive News, Paul Peebles runs North Freeway Hyundai in Spring, TX, but he's better known in the Chevy SSR community the premiere seller of the weird model through his used car network. The odd venture started in 2010 when Peebles wanted to boost his pre-owned business and bought several sporty vehicles. Among them were five SSRs, and he threw a cookout for owners to get the word out. Things just ballooned from there. Since then, Peebles' used car dealer has had a hand in 447 SSR transactions, and some of those are the same truck coming back to sell again. With just over 24,000 of them out there, that works about to two percent of the model's production moving through just one business. The dealership also sponsors an SSR owners' forum online. Being a major broker for a niche model also means that Peebles often gets rare examples of the SSR, including some of the Indianapolis 500 pace car versions, according to Automotive News. We even saw a bizarre one last year when the business put this shark-inspired truck on eBay Motors. The whole thing also works out well for Peebles' Hyundai business. Specializing in SSRs brings other performance models in as trade-ins, and they can draw folks to the lot to check out the collection. Then, maybe visitors can take a look at a Sonata, too.

Did the Chevy Corvette Z06 break 7 minutes at the Ring? Not likely

"Just because it's on the internet doesn't make it true." That's rule number one, two and arguably, three, of surfing the world wide web. In today's example of this rule, we have the following. The website HorsepowerKings is claiming that a 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, with the eight-speed automatic and Z07 package, managed to lap the Nurburgring Nordschleife in under seven minutes. To put that in perspective, that super-quick time would put the 650-horsepower, $97,000 (the price of a 2LZ with the Z07/8AT combo) Z06 a mere two seconds slower around the world's most challenging race track than the $929,000, 887-horsepower Porsche 918 Spyder Weissach. It's about eight seconds quicker than Nissan's own test of the GT-R Nismo Track Pack and 13 seconds faster than a Dodge Viper ACR. Unfortunately, Chevy says there isn't anything to it. We reached out to the Bowtie's Monte Doran, who confirmed that HK's claims are "not accurate." "Any one – a manufacturer, a journalist, a guy standing on the fence of the Ring – can claim a lap time. As such, we think the in-car video is essential to proving a time is real and credible, and Chevrolet will not release a lap until we have a video to substantiate the claim," Doran told Autoblog. "Chevrolet accumulated nearly 1,000 miles of testing on the Nurburgring with the Z06. During that time, we only had two opportunities to run a lap on video – and both were rained out. If we get a lap on video, we will post an official time." Doran finished by referencing the "only official lap time" for the Z06 – a 2:41 around the Virginia International Raceway. Frankly, we aren't terribly surprised by Chevy's position. One would imagine if the Z06 were matching million-dollar hypercars around the 'Ring, the company would literally be screaming about it from Renaissance Center's rooftop. As this is quite the opposite of that, though, we're betting that the real Z06 lap time - while still likely very, very fast – won't be quite quick enough to frighten the brightest and best of today's hypercars.

GM to idle car production at five factories as Americans continue CUV love affair

In case you needed another reminder that Americans have fallen out of love with sedans, General Motors today announced plans to idle five factories in January in a bid to cut its inventory to 70 days. Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly ( Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac CT6, Chevrolet Volt and Impala) and Fairfax Assembly in Kansas ( Chevy Malibu) will stop production for three weeks. Lansing Grand River ( Cadillac ATS and CTS, and Chevy Camaro) is going down for two weeks, while Lordstown, OH ( Chevy Cruze) and Bowling Green, KY ( Chevy Corvette) will go idle for a week each, Automotive News reports. GM's shutdown reflects a broader problem with the company's supply – at 847,000 vehicles, the company's supply increased unsteadily from a low of 629,000 units in January of 2016. That's more than a 25 percent increase in the past year. Citing information from Autodata, The Detroit News reports that at the end of November, GM had a 168-day supply of LaCrosses, 177 days' worth of Camaro, 170 days of Corvette, 121 days for Cruze, 119 days for ATS, 132 days for CTS, and 110 days of CT6. Meanwhile, inventory of the company's more popular vehicles is actually below the professionally accepted 60- to 70-day supply, The News reports. The Trax, Colorado pickup, and GM's full-size SUVs are sitting below 50 days and experiencing year-over-year sales increases. GM needs a rethink of its inventory levels, which is something that's apparently coming. "We're going to be responsible in managing our inventory levels," GM spokesman Jim Cain told The News. Another unnamed spokesman told Automotive News the company's day-to-day supplies would "fluctuate before moderating at year-end." But at least one analyst thinks this won't be the last time Detroit needs to stop production to level things out. "Incentives are elevated, residuals are declining, and rates are rising," Brian Johnson, an analyst with Barclays, told The News. "And while GM in particular may benefit in the months ahead from new product launches, it's important to recognize that GM's inventory is elevated at the moment, and it wouldn't surprise us if they need to announce another production cut – which could pressure the stock." Related Video: News Source: The Detroit News, Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Paul Sancya / AP Plants/Manufacturing Buick Cadillac Chevrolet GM GMC Crossover SUV Sedan bowling green cadillac xt6 fairfax