2003 Chevrolet Tahoe Z71 Sport Utility 4-door 5.3l on 2040-cars

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Nissan Leaf sells 3,186 in best month ever as Chevy moves 2,511 Volts

The end of summer seems to inspire people to go out and buy a lot of plug-in vehicles. Last year, for example, the Chevy Volt had its best month ever in August, with 3,351 sales. This year, the Nissan Leaf is going up to the winner's podium, setting its own best-ever record with 3,186 units sold. This beats the Leaf's previous record by 69 vehicles. This beats the Leaf's previous record of 3,117 set in May 2014 by 69 vehicles and is up 31.7 percent from August 2013. Nissan is once again quick to remind us that the popular EV's record sales streak has now been extended to 18 months in a row. This record is simply noting that the current month, in this case August, had the highest sales that that month has ever seen in the US. Over all, US Leaf sales are up 34.1 percent so far this year. In a prepared statement, Nissan's director of Leaf sales and infrastructure, Brendan Jones, said that the Leaf is selling well on both coasts, including cities like Raleigh, Boston and Washington, DC. "It's what we call the 'cul-de-sac phenomenon,' where once someone in a community buys a Leaf, then friends, family, co-workers and neighbors see the benefits of this fun-to-drive electric vehicle firsthand and are sold on the idea of going electric," he said. The Volt also had a good month - its best of 2014 by almost 500 sales – but the 2,511 Volt sales still represent a drop of 25.1 percent from the excellent sales the Volt had this time last year. In fact, August 2014 represents the Volt's best sales month since, well, August 2013. Apparently, there's just something about the end of summer. As always, we are working on our in-depth round-up of green car sales across the country and will have that up soon.

2014 Chevrolet SS makes its live debut

Chevrolet showed off the new 2014 SS in an airport hangar last night, its first rear-wheel-drive performance sedan in the US since the Impala SS from 1997. We'll have more to say about the SS later today, but this is the sedan that Chevrolet sees as the final piece in restoring its performance credentials. For those of you looking for a manual transmission, however, that wish will go unfulfilled - at least for now: the only two options buyers will have are the color and whether or not they want a sunroof.
We'll work on getting some more angles (in better light) today at Daytona International Speedway, but with fans seeing the car for the first time, we don't hold out much luck of getting a clear shot. So for now, enjoy the high-res gallery above.

2014 Chevy Silverado High Country spied wearing trappings of new luxury trim

Spy photographers have spotted the new Chevrolet Silverado High Country and GMC Sierra Denali out on public streets for a little testing. From the looks of things, the Silverado will receive a much-differentiated front fascia along with special badges and those honking 20-inch chrome wheels. Expect to find a more posh interior as well. Likewise, the Sierra Denali will wear a tweaked nose with the familiar Denali bling. The one of the GMC trucks spotted here rolls on 21-inch gunmetal wheels instead of the 20-inch chrome pieces of the High Country.
Word has it both trucks will go on sale after the Texas State Fair this summer. While General Motors hasn't said for certain what we can expect to find under the hood, we'd be surprised to see anything outside of the range of engines found in the standard Silverado and Sierra models. That means buyers should be able to get their hands on the efficient, 23-miles per gallon 5.3-liter V8.