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It won't be long now before Nissan Leaf finally overtakes Chevy Volt

The two best-selling plug-in vehicles ever are the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf. When the two vehicles launched in late 2010, the plug-in hybrid Volt quickly outpaced the all-electric Leaf and, despite lots of ups and downs since then, continues to hold on to a cumulative sales lead. This will change in 2015. Cumulatively, from November 2010 through November 2014, the Volt sold 71,867 units while the Leaf trails with 69,220. That's a difference of just 2,647. Based on current trends (with the Leaf selling around 2,500-2,700 a month and the Volt at 1,500-1,700) we expect the Leaf to take over either in January or, more likely, February when the Leaf takes over as the most popular plug-in car in America. Perhaps even March, depending on how low the numbers are for January and February, which are always slow sales months in the US. Of course, once it takes the crown, the Leaf can't expect to easily hold on for long. A new Volt is coming in the second half of 2015, likely beating a new Leaf to market. The question is, then, how well the Chevy sells with all of its new bells and whistles. Do you think the Volt will be the comeback kid once the 2016 model becomes available? Featured Gallery 2013 Nissan Leaf View 55 Photos Green Chevrolet Nissan AutoblogGreen Exclusive Electric Hybrid ev sales hybrid sales

GM invests $24 million to build more crew cab trucks in Fort Wayne

The full-size pickup truck arms race continues unabated here in the United States as Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler battle back and forth for sales supremacy. The Ford F-Series of trucks continues to lead the field in sales (214,611 units sold through the first quarter of 2019), but the race for second place has been a lot more interesting to watch. That's because Ram, long a distant third in truck sales, eked its way past Chevrolet late in 2018 and has managed to hold the position so far in 2019. Don't take this to mean that sales of GM's trucks have been poor across the board. In fact, the automaker reports that sales of its four-door crew cab pickups are up 20 percent in 2019 over the same period a year ago. And that's what makes GM's announcement today so interesting. The automaker is investing $24 million into its assembly plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana to build more Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks, and the focus will continue to be on crew cab models. "We are building Chevrolet and GMC crew cab pickups at record volume and mix levels to meet customer demand and the $24 million investment will allow us to build even more," said GM chief Mary Barra in a statement. "Crew cab sales have been very strong, and we are expanding customer choice with new models, more cab choices and innovative new powertrains." It's worth noting that, if crew cab sales are up 20% this year, but overall sales are down (over 15% for Silverado and around 2% for GMC), that means it's the cheaper regular cab and double cab models that are lagging. At the same time, sales of the midsize Chevy Colorado have surged 16%. And finally, if you combine sales of the Silverado and Sierra into one bucket, GM still has a comfortable lead over Ram overall. If there's a takeaway here, it's that trucks of all shapes and sizes have been, currently are and will surely remain hot in America, and automakers will continue to invest money into making sure they are able to satiate consumer demand.

GM takes heat for aborted Silverado riff on 'Boston Strong' at World Series

During game five of the World Series, Chevrolet was set to do a spot of marketing for the 2014 Silverado - fans at Busch Stadium in St. Louis would hold up placards that spelled out the words "Silverado Strong," a theme that Chevy has been promoting since the Silverado's launch with the song "Strong," by Will Hoge. The St. Louis promo was ultimately called off, though, over concerns that it'd be insensitive to the visiting Boston Red Sox. (You can see the image of what the stunt would have looked like above, courtesy of one timely Reddit user.)
Now, the Busch Stadium stunt might not have been a big deal, had the St. Louis Cardinals not been playing the Boston Red Sox. Following the tragic events in Boston during the marathon back in April, the phrase "Boston Strong" gained traction among the city's citizens, especially at sporting events. So, you can imagine that Chevy's appropriation of the phrase might not sit well with some fans.
The stunt was ultimately shelved after images of the signs went viral before the game, leading to a bit of a public backlash. Chevy spokesperson Michael Albano said of the promo that it was meant to show the brand's "commitment to baseball and its fans." But after the images went viral, the company "realized there was the possibility that we may offend some of the very fans we were trying to honor," Albano told Automotive News via email.