2005 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Ls Extended Cab Pickup 4-door 5.3l on 2040-cars

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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

First privately owned Corvette Stingray blitzes 1/4 mile in 12.23 at 114.88 mph

Chevrolet's latest road rocket, the Corvette Stingray, is a very quick car. If one needs further proof of that, we recommend they take a look at this video from Hennessey of what is claimed to be the first privately owned C7 Corvette to make a pass down the quarter mile. Not just any quarter mile, mind, this black C7 blitzed its way down the tuner's primary testing dragstrip. The Chevrolet ran the quarter in just 12.23 seconds at 114.88 miles per hour. That is a very quick time for a stock car.
Equipped with the Z51 package and a six-speed automatic transmission, not only does the C7 run a solid time, but it does so with little to no drama. That won't last though, as Hennessey will likely return it to its owner with far more power - we just hope they show a drag run of the completed product. Take a look below to watch the C7's 12.23-second run on video.

Subprime financing on the rise in new car sales, leasing too

We all remember the financial crisis that began several years back. At its core was a splurge of subprime lending for housing loans. The housing bubble burst, triggering a collapse of the mortgage-backed securities market. Apparently, those types of loans still exist in the automotive industry, and the market share for these types of "nonprime, subprime, and deep subprime," loans has grown 13.6 percent compared to the third quarter a year ago.
According to an Automotive News report, high-risk lending expanded to 24.8 percent of total loans in Q3, up from 21.9 percent for this time last year. As this level increased, average credit scores of borrowers dropped to 755, down from 763 a year ago. In that time, the average financing amount increased $90 per vehicle, to $25,963.
At 818, Volvo maintains the highest per-owner credit score, while Mitsubishi has the lowest, at 694. The highest rate of borrowers was at Toyota, with 14 percent of the market, followed by Ford with 13.1 percent and Chevrolet at 11.1.