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GM's Oshawa plant may close after Camaro production moves

Most of the time, when vehicle production is moved from one assembly plant to another, it spells bad news for the former. While General Motors won't go so far as to say its Oshawa, Ontario factory, which is losing the Chevrolet Camaro to the Lansing Grand River plant, is in trouble, analysts seem to think the factory's days are numbered. Forecasts for the facility are far from positive. The loss of the Camaro this year, combined with GM's targeted shutdown of a single-shift assembly line responsible for the fleet-only Chevy Impala Limited and the Equinox crossover is a bad enough omen. But with AutoForecast Solutions CEO Joe McCabe telling The Detroit News that the plant's other two products, the Cadillac XTS and Buick Regal, aren't likely to stick around beyond 2017, things look decidedly grim at Oshawa. "There is a fairly strong chance that the plant could close," Jeff Schuster, senior VP of forecasting for LMC Automotive, told The Detroit News. That doesn't mean that Unifor, Canada's auto union, and the Canadian government are going to let the factory die without a fight. And with the latter chipping in $10 billion as part of GM's 2009 bailout, you might think it has a degree of leverage in the situation. A meeting between the government and the Detroit Three at the 2015 North American International Auto Show revealed that Oshawa is already a topic of conversation. "We made it very clear that we would like to see an indication on the future of Oshawa sooner, in particular because the timing is very challenging for our supply chain to be able to adjust to potentially future orders or changes, but also to know that there are going to be future opportunities at Oshawa," Ontario's Minister of Economic, Development, Employment and Infrastructure Brad Duguid told The Detroit News. "Bottom line: It's time they made a longer-term commitment here," Unifor President Jerry Dias said, echoing Duguid's statements. It's unclear if this sort of strong talk will be enough to save 3,300-plus employees, although based on the analysts' forecasts, we doubt it.

GM diesel pickups first to undergo extra EPA, CARB testing

The effects of Volkswagen's long-running diesel emissions evasion are starting to spill over to other automakers, but General Motors is taking things in stride. The 2.8-liter, four-cylinder Duramax in the 2016 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon is the first engine to get extra scrutiny by the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, Automotive News reports. Rather than just the usual in-lab test, it's also being checked on the road. However, the extra evaluation shouldn't have any impact on when the trucks with his mill hit dealers later this fall. "We're in our final stages of the EPA certification, and our launch is on track," Chevy spokesperson Otie McKinley tells Autoblog. The four-cylinder diesel in the trucks makes 181 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque, and the automaker is touting low NOx production. In the announcement for the Colorado's specs, the company calls it "the cleanest diesel truck engine ever produced by General Motors." The tech includes exhaust gas recirculation to lower combustion temperatures and improve emissions. There's also a urea tank like on the bigger diesels for full-size trucks, and it gets refilled in time with oil changes. An indication on the instrument panel lets drivers know when that's needed, too. Even with the more demanding testing, the company doesn't seem too worried about the four-cylinder passing. "Part of our development process is on-road and off-road [laboratory] testing," Scott Yackley, Chevy Trucks assistant chief engineer, said to Automotive News. In the wake of the VW scandal, the EPA has pledged more rigorous testing. Before, on-road emissions evaluations were largely limited to heavy-duty vehicles, but the agency has decided to apply the checks more often to other models. There's also now greater cooperation with Canadian authorities.

2019 Chicago Auto Show photo gallery: All of the grilles

Do you like trucks? How about grilles? Like really big, shiny, chromey, in-your-face, could-be-made-by-Broil-King grilles? Well, the Chicago Auto Show is the place to be. Traditionally known as the truck show of the annual auto show circuit (at least those covered by national media), Chicago has what seems like a small national park's worth of acreage devoted to both consumer and commercial trucks. From humble extended cab Ford Rangers to a mammoth F-650 with cherry picker sprouting from its aft quarters, there's bound to be a truck for everything. And they all have grilles. So above is our gallery devoted to them, because hell, why not? Should you want to know about the trucks attached to those grilles, check out our coverage below. Heavy Duty Trucks 2020 Chevrolet Silverado HD revealed, tows 35,500 pounds 2020 GMC Sierra HD revealed, has more subtle looks than Chevy sibling 2019 Ram Heavy Duty trucks get new face, 1,000 pound-feet of torque 2020 Ford F-Series Super Duty revealed, adds massive gas engine Full-Size Trucks Read how all of the full-size trucks compare to each other 2019 Chevrolet Silverado First Drive 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 2.7L Turbo First Drive 2019 GMC Sierra First Drive 2019 GMC Sierra AT4 First Drive 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie Quick Spin Review 2019 Ram 1500 eTorque Drivers' Notes Review 2019 Ford F-150 2.7L EcoBoost Quick Spin Review 2018 Ford F-150 King Ranch Power Stroke Diesel Review Related Video: Featured Gallery 2019 Chicago Auto Show: All of the grilles View 40 Photos Chicago Auto Show Chevrolet Ford GMC RAM Truck chevrolet silverado