2008 Gmc Sierra 2500 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

GM can't keep up with most popular pickup orders

With the market for pickup trucks at its best since before the recession, General Motors can't afford any hiccups with the launch of its new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra twins, but it sounds like the popularity of V8-powered trucks is causing some supply-chain issues. Bloomberg reports that GM is experiencing a shortage of 5.3-liter V8 engines because an unnamed parts supplier has been unable to keep up with demand. This is leading GM to restrict the number of V8 Silverado and Sierra trucks that Chevrolet and GMC dealers are allowed to order.
Although it's unclear how long it will take to resolve the parts shortage, GM doesn't have much time to sort it out, as a new Ford F-150 looms on the horizon. At launch, GM's fullsize trucks were offered only with a base 4.3-liter V6 and the 5.3-liter V8, but a burlier 6.2-liter V8 will be available soon. Interestingly, at least at the moment, GM truck buyers don't seem as willing to downsize to V6 power as buyers of the F-150, which gets some 42-percent of its sales from trucks equipped with its EcoBoost V6 engine (not including the normally aspirated base V6).
Working out the kinks in the Silverado and Sierra's supply chain couldn't be more important to the health of the company. Full-size pickups are a huge profit driver - in 2012, the trucks were said to make up about two-third of GM's total profits.

GM planning to put its fullsize pickups on a big diet, too

General Motors is just coming off a complete redesign of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra for 2014, but in the US fullsize truck market, there is no rest for the weary. According to Reuters, plans are already unfurling for both trucks to drop pounds from their curb weight over the next few years, but this will unlikely be able to keep pace with the 700-pound diet targeted for the next-generation Ford F-150, a truck expected to debut late next year.
The biggest weight reduction for these trucks might not be available until the next full redesign, which will likely happen around 2019, but the article says that smaller updates could shave pounds in the meantime. Two examples given include an "aluminum-intensive" version of the Silverado that could shed 250 pounds and debut around the same time as the lighter-weight, aluminum-bodied 2015 Ford, and there is also talk of reducing weight for driveline components such as axles and driveshafts. These changes are all part of an attempt to meet strict new fuel economy standards coming in 2017, targets which will get even tougher in 2025.

Texas sues GM, saying it tricked customers into sharing driving data sold to insurers

Texas filed a lawsuit Tuesday against GM over years of alleged abuse of customers' data and trust. New car owners were presented with a "confusing and highly misleading" process that was implied to be for their safety, but "was no more than a deceptively designed sales flow" that surrendered their data for GM to sell. The suit contends that at no point was selling driving data ever even suggested as a possibility, putting GM in violation of the state's consumer protection laws. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking a jury trial and at least $10,000 per offense (every GM car sold in the state since 2015) and a hefty add-on of $250,000 in cases where the victim was over 65. Texas seems to be flying high after a recent $1.4 billion settlement from Meta over other privacy concerns. This may well be a way to solve any pending budgetary issues in the Lone Star State.