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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

Opel Cascada is Europe's Buick convertible [w/video]

As we reported earlier, there has been much speculation regarding a Buick convertible of sorts. The most ringing endorsement of this conjecture comes today from General Motors Europe, as the new Opel Cascada has debuted on the interwebs. Opel calls the four-passenger Cascada an "athletic, glamorous midsize convertible." With a length of 4,697mm (185 in.), the Cascada is as long as an Audi A5, to which GM has said it would be slightly larger.
The Cascada, which is Spanish for waterfall, features a cloth convertible top that retracts in 17 seconds and at speeds up to 50 km/h (31 mph). The Cascada features a 1.4-liter turbo gas engine, 2.0-liter turbodiesel with 165 horsepower and a range-topping 1.6-liter turbocharged Ecotec engine that puts out 170 horsepower and 280 Nm (207 lb-ft). Power is sent through either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission.
According to GM, the Cascada will also come rife with luxury and tech features. In addition to adaptive forward lighting and ergonomic heated front seats, the convertible will feature Opel Eye, which is a front camera that can recognize traffic signs and incorporates lane departure warning and forward collision alert.

Two nearly new 1987 Buick Grand National 'twins' found in garage after 30 years

Back in the '80s, a Buick Grand National could leave a lot of vehicles in its dust. The final, 1987 version of the menacingly styled performance coupe produced 245 horsepower and 355 pound feet of torque, and it was never designed to sit still, let alone for 30 years. But two low-mile Grand Nationals did just that. At the time, it was widely known that nothing like the Grand National would be built again, as the Regal platform would be moving to front-wheel drive. So a lot of buyers stockpiled Grand Nationals and rarer GNX versions with the idea of making a buck on them when they gained value. Some people even bought several. That's what happened to these two cars, recently unearthed from their slumber. Thirty years of storage has turned them into barn finds instead of showroom beauties, and they haven't exactly been flawlessly preserved. A story reported on gm-efi.com shows the cars – the "Twins," as they're called – parked side to side, the way they were laid to rest decades ago, with thick dust on them. Two enthusiasts, Shawn Matthews and William Avila, originally contacted the owner, who had posted them for sale on Facebook with a staggering $200,000 asking price. After inspecting the cars and confirming they were legit, the prospective buyers managed to strike a deal for an undisclosed sum. The story does say the seller was a bit eccentric, demanding money in hand before the cars could be touched at all, but the cars were eventually acquired and transported to a shop for desperately needed refurbishing. Time has caused the headliners on both cars to droop, and it's obvious all gaskets and fluids will need to be addressed, but both cars have extremely low odometer readings: One has 807 miles on the clock, while the other hasn't even reached 600. The car with a more miles was moved "once in a while," so clearly the original owner couldn't resist giving it a go while the other one slept. We couldn't've, either. Related Video: Featured Gallery Two Old Buick Grand Nationals View 12 Photos News Source: gm-efi.com via BarnFinds Auto News Buick Classics buick grand national grand national