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Huge, pricey trucks haul jobs and profits for the Detroit Three

DECATUR, Texas — Mickey McMaster is on his 12th pickup truck. The 61-year old farm equipment dealer in Decatur, Texas, two weeks ago treated himself to a 2019 GMC Denali for around $69,000 — a reward for long hours at work. "For me this is the Cadillac of trucks, it's a real luxury vehicle," McMaster said. "I've worked my way up to afford a truck like this and it shows that I've earned it." McMaster is the kind of customer General Motors Co is banking on as it plans to add 1,000 jobs at a plant in Flint, Michigan that will build a new generation of its largest pickups. Demand from Texas and other heartland states for big pick-ups is providing a lifeline to many workers the No. 1 U.S. automaker is laying off at plants elsewhere. The Detroit Three automakers and thousands of their U.S. workers are counting on customers like McMaster to keep buying bigger and more luxurious pickup trucks even if overall U.S. vehicle demand weakens this year, as most analysts predict. At Flint, GM will build a new generation of its heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierras, including luxury models that are some of the most profitable vehicles on the planet. GM, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's Ram division own the segment and are each doubling down with new or redesigned models launching this year. Sales of heavy-duty pickups in the United States have grown to more than 600,000 vehicles a year, up more than 20 percent since 2013, according to industry data. Prices for luxury models can easily top $70,000. GM on Tuesday celebrated the launch of a new generation of heavy-duty GMC and Chevrolet pickups at the assembly plant in Flint, Michigan, that is now building all such trucks for the company. At the same time that GM is laying off thousands of U.S. workers and planning to shutter five North American factories, Flint is hiring. The plant runs on three daily shifts, six days a week. As the new model's assembly system ramps up, the plant's capacity will increase by more than 25 percent, plant manager Mike Perez told Reuters. The Flint plant plans to add 1,000 workers, more than half of the 1,500 factory workers who have asked to transfer from plants GM has targeted for shutdown as part of CEO Mary Barra's restructuring plan. "We're bringing in 50 to 100 people every week," said Perez. Workers last week were still finishing the job of retooling the Flint factory to build the new heavy-duty trucks as part of a $1.5 billion investment project.

Corvette Z06. Nissan GT-R Nismo. Motor Trend Head 2 Head. 'Nuff said.

Here is a video we've been waiting for, one that will get broadband fiber optic cables glowing like Hooker headers on a dyno. For Episode 62 of Head 2 Head, Motor Trend throws the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 into the bear pit with the latest Nissan GT-R Nismo. What comes out of that is seventeen minutes of don't-look-away video. We're only going to give you the specs. The 3,527-pound Z06 gets on with a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 with 650 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque, applied to the wheels via a seven-speed manual transmission. With the Z07 performance package appended it has a front splitter and winglets, and a three-section rear spoiler among its aero aids. The tested model also wore carbon ceramic brakes, which helped push its $89,985 MSRP out to $105,210. The 3,881-pound GT-R Nismo plays the underdog – again – with a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 spitting out 600 hp and 481 lb-ft, yoked to a six-speed dual-clutch transmission. The GT-R left its 'performance bargain' days behind years ago, and this top-shelf version starts at $151,585 but has almost everything it can get, so the as-tested price was only a skosh more at $151,880. We're not going to tell you any more than that. Click on the video and let Carlos Lago and his two mean minions tell you a story you won't soon forget. Related Video: News Source: Motor Trend Channel via YouTube Chevrolet Nissan Coupe Luxury Performance Videos motor trend nissan gt-r nismo head 2 head

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.