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It won't be long now before Nissan Leaf finally overtakes Chevy Volt

The two best-selling plug-in vehicles ever are the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf. When the two vehicles launched in late 2010, the plug-in hybrid Volt quickly outpaced the all-electric Leaf and, despite lots of ups and downs since then, continues to hold on to a cumulative sales lead. This will change in 2015. Cumulatively, from November 2010 through November 2014, the Volt sold 71,867 units while the Leaf trails with 69,220. That's a difference of just 2,647. Based on current trends (with the Leaf selling around 2,500-2,700 a month and the Volt at 1,500-1,700) we expect the Leaf to take over either in January or, more likely, February when the Leaf takes over as the most popular plug-in car in America. Perhaps even March, depending on how low the numbers are for January and February, which are always slow sales months in the US. Of course, once it takes the crown, the Leaf can't expect to easily hold on for long. A new Volt is coming in the second half of 2015, likely beating a new Leaf to market. The question is, then, how well the Chevy sells with all of its new bells and whistles. Do you think the Volt will be the comeback kid once the 2016 model becomes available? Featured Gallery 2013 Nissan Leaf View 55 Photos Green Chevrolet Nissan AutoblogGreen Exclusive Electric Hybrid ev sales hybrid sales

Burt Reynolds' movie re-creations fetch $379,500 in Vegas

The recent death of Hollywood legend and automotive enthusiast Burt Reynolds helped drive up the value of four of his former cars from the 1970s and '80s, which sold last weekend at Barrett-Jackson's Las Vegas auction for a combined $379,500. Reynolds, who died Sept. 6 at age 82, had offered three Pontiac Trans Ams — two of them re-creations of the cars he drove in "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Hooper" and the third from 1984 used to promote his United States Football League team, the Tampa Bay Bandits. The fourth was a 1978 Chevrolet R30 pickup truck, styled like the one featured in "Cannonball Run." The "Bandit" re-creation, a 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am that Reynolds ordered to be as "movie-correct" as possible but featuring a custom-built 200-4R automatic transmission, sold for $192,500. The car features a freshly built Pontiac 400 cubic-inch V8 mated to a four-speed automatic and featuring all-new Butler Performance parts and air-conditioning components. Reynolds reportedly said this was his favorite car from his films, and it even came with an authentic movie-correct CB radio and CB antenna. The red retro-rocket "Hooper" '78 Firebird, with a 403 cubic-inch V8 and a three-speed automatic, hammered for $88,000. By comparison, a gold 1978 Trans Am also offered at the Las Vegas auction but not connected to Reynolds fetched $27,500. The 1987 Chevy R30 pickup was a re-creation of the Indy Hauler pace truck seen jumping over a moving freight train in "Cannonball Run." It hammered for $49,500. The fourth car never appeared in any of Reynolds' films but is instead the only surviving example of two Trans Ams used to promote the Tampa Bay Bandits of the now-defunct USFL, having been driven out onto the field by Reynolds and his late friend and co-star, Jerry Reed, during opening day one season. It also sold for $49,500. At the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction in 2016, Reynolds accompanied a 1977 Trans Am used to promote "Bandit" onto the auction block. That car sold for $550,000. Related Video: Featured Gallery Burt Reynolds 2018 Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas Auction Image Credit: Barrett-Jackson Celebrities Chevrolet Pontiac Truck Coupe Performance celebrity pontiac trans am pontiac firebird burt reynolds

The Volt Dance had precedent; meet the Chevy Footlockers

Marketing in the auto industry can get weird sometimes – really quite bizarre, in fact. For example, remember the Chevy Volt dance from the 2009 Los Angles Auto Show? If not, a group boogied to a song about the electric car, and it was every bit as awkward (and hilarious) as that sounds. In fact, that innocent bit of promotion lives in infamy, as some pundits grabbed hold of it during General Motors' bailout and asked why America's tax dollars were going to such things. The Chicago Auto Show has been digging through its vault of vintage videos, and it has come up with something that might actually be worse than that Volt-themed routine. They're called the Chevy Footlockers, and they're a dance troupe somehow promoting the Cavalier at the 1988 Chicago show. The connection between the car and their routine is unclear, but it's gloriously cheesy in a Chippendales-meets-AC Slater sort of way. Also, there are props towards the end, but we aren't going to spoil them for you, because you just have to watch for yourself. As a bonus, there's another (brief) clip below showing a female dance group with the Geo Tracker at the '91 Chicago show, and they sing, too. Scroll down to watch both of these oddities. News Source: ChicagoAutoShow via YouTube [1], [2] Marketing/Advertising Chicago Auto Show Chevrolet GM Classics geo