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GM to idle car production at five factories as Americans continue CUV love affair

In case you needed another reminder that Americans have fallen out of love with sedans, General Motors today announced plans to idle five factories in January in a bid to cut its inventory to 70 days. Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly ( Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac CT6, Chevrolet Volt and Impala) and Fairfax Assembly in Kansas ( Chevy Malibu) will stop production for three weeks. Lansing Grand River ( Cadillac ATS and CTS, and Chevy Camaro) is going down for two weeks, while Lordstown, OH ( Chevy Cruze) and Bowling Green, KY ( Chevy Corvette) will go idle for a week each, Automotive News reports. GM's shutdown reflects a broader problem with the company's supply – at 847,000 vehicles, the company's supply increased unsteadily from a low of 629,000 units in January of 2016. That's more than a 25 percent increase in the past year. Citing information from Autodata, The Detroit News reports that at the end of November, GM had a 168-day supply of LaCrosses, 177 days' worth of Camaro, 170 days of Corvette, 121 days for Cruze, 119 days for ATS, 132 days for CTS, and 110 days of CT6. Meanwhile, inventory of the company's more popular vehicles is actually below the professionally accepted 60- to 70-day supply, The News reports. The Trax, Colorado pickup, and GM's full-size SUVs are sitting below 50 days and experiencing year-over-year sales increases. GM needs a rethink of its inventory levels, which is something that's apparently coming. "We're going to be responsible in managing our inventory levels," GM spokesman Jim Cain told The News. Another unnamed spokesman told Automotive News the company's day-to-day supplies would "fluctuate before moderating at year-end." But at least one analyst thinks this won't be the last time Detroit needs to stop production to level things out. "Incentives are elevated, residuals are declining, and rates are rising," Brian Johnson, an analyst with Barclays, told The News. "And while GM in particular may benefit in the months ahead from new product launches, it's important to recognize that GM's inventory is elevated at the moment, and it wouldn't surprise us if they need to announce another production cut – which could pressure the stock." Related Video: News Source: The Detroit News, Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Paul Sancya / AP Plants/Manufacturing Buick Cadillac Chevrolet GM GMC Crossover SUV Sedan bowling green cadillac xt6 fairfax

Corvette Stingray Convertible images mysteriously appear on web, so we add our own

It was inevitable that we'd see the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray topless at some point, but that didn't make us any less interested when a pair of supposedly leaked official images showed up on theautoinsiderblog.com last week. We posted them on our Facebook page, but held off reporting on them here until we could get a little more information.
Those images, which feature a dark red car on a sterile black studio background, supposedly first appeared on the website of diecast model maker Maisto. A Chevrolet spokesman has been reported saying that they are "not official images released by Chevrolet PR," which isn't a denial they're the real deal, but neither is it a confirmation.
Close examination of the photos suggest they could be official shots of the Corvette Stingray Convertible, and while some have doubted their authenticity due to a lack of vents (which were seen on the C7s that debuted in Detroit last week), it could be that the images are of a base model car without the Z51 package that doesn't require the extra venting and cooling.

No, Cadillac is not killing its flagship CT6 sedan

Mark Twain never actually said that reports of his death had been greatly exaggerated. But if the Cadillac CT6 could talk, those are the exact words it would use. Speaking to Jalopnik, Cadillac chief Johan de Nysschen confirmed, emphatically, "There is absolutely no plan, at all, to cancel the CT6." In fact, says de Nysschen, the CT6 will soon be the beneficiary of significant investment. "The [CT6] forms a very important part of our product strategy going forward for the brand. The car also has a very major contribution to make to the shaping of brand perceptions, and the transformational process that Cadillac is undergoing." For instance, expect the CT6 to spearhead General Motors' most advanced forays into self-driving automobile technology. Interestingly, though, the Cadillac ATS and CTS sedans probably won't live past their current generations as the automaker 're-balances its sedan portfolio.' Replacement models are "in development" right now, says de Nysschen, which will "much more clearly separate the market position, both in terms of target customer demographics, in terms of market segments and in terms of price points between these three sedan lineups." So, that's confirmation that the Cadillac CT6 is going to stick around for a while. But what of other models cited by Reuters to potentially be killed, like the Buick LaCrosse and Chevy Impala and Volt? Read our take on that here, but suffice it to say that we don't think they're in danger, either. Related Video: News Source: JalopnikImage Credit: VCG via Getty Plants/Manufacturing Buick Cadillac Chevrolet Electric Hybrid Luxury Sedan confirmed cadillac ct6