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Mary Barra reportedly confirms GM's electric pickup truck plans

According to Motor Authority, CEO Mary Barra confirmed General Motors' intentions to build an electric pickup truck this week. Whether or not it would be an all-new vehicle is unknown. The news comes not even a week after Ford announced a $500 million investment in electric-vehicle startup Rivian. First, electric powertrains were integrated into cars. Then came the crossovers and the SUVs. Naturally, then, the next wave will be pickup trucks. Ford is set to produce an electric F-150, Rivian has the R1T, and now General Motors has reportedly confirmed its plans to introduce a competitor into the field. The article says the topic was brought up in a recent investor call as part of a brief overview of the automaker's electrification strategy. That's where the details end, however, as there is no indication of a timeline, what GM brand would carry the truck, or whether it would be an entirely new product or an adaptation of a current model. The latter seems most likely, which points to the Chevrolet Silverado or the GMC Sierra as possibilities. Chevrolet has been GM's electrification leader this decade with the Bolt and Volt, so an electric Silverado would align well with that messaging and branding. However, an electric pickup would likely be a pricier premium product, which could align it better with GMC. Autoblog has reached out to GM for comment and will update this space when we get a response. Green Rumormill Chevrolet GMC Truck Electric Future Vehicles Mary Barra electric truck chevrolet silverado

Next-gen Chevy Volt gets Corvette looks, adjustable regen levels

The hood may say "full speed ahead." The regenerative braking system says "slow down a bit." One person's automotive improvements is another's identity crisis, all in a day's work analyzing the new Chevrolet Volt. The next-generation version of General Motors' first extended-range plug in will include design touches taken from to the new Chevrolet Corvette, GM's iconic sports car. Hexagonal taillights and a "taut" hood will be part of the new package, Automotive News says, citing General Motors design chief Ed Wilbur. But does that mean the Volt is shedding any of its green-car cred? Not at all, if one considers that the Volt will also let the driver adjust the degree of regenerative braking using steering-wheel paddles to dial up and recapture as much energy as possible and engage in "one-pedal" driving or turn it down for easier coasting. Check out the 55-second video below featuring GM executives Mark Reuss and Andrew Farah trying out the Volt's new regenerative-braking system that was first used on the Cadillac ELR. GM will have more details for us when it unveils the 2016 Chevy Volt at the North American Auto Show in Detroit next month. The new version is said to have a larger battery, a longer all-electric driving range and more power, but Chevy's been fairly mum on those sorts of performance details so far. Green Chevrolet Electric volt cadillac elr corvette regenerative braking

May 2016: FCA wins, Ford and GM stumble on weak car volumes

The May 2016 sales numbers are in, and it looks as though FCA is getting some vindication for boldly cancelling two slow-selling car models. Meanwhile, Ford saw overall sales dip and GM's May volume took a big dive versus the same month in 2015. While Marchionne's decision to axe the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Dart has drawn criticism as being short-sighted, it's working for FCA so far. Although the Dart and 200 aren't out of production yet and no capacity has been shifted to crossover or trucks, May's numbers show that the emphasis on Jeep and Ram models makes sense right now. FCA's US sales rose 1 percent last month compared to May 2015, putting the year-to-date total at 955,186 vehicles, an increase of 6 percent compared to the same period last year. Standouts included the Jeep Renegade, Compass, and Patriot, and the Fiat 500X. Ram pickup sales were down 3 percent. And your fun fact is that Alfa Romeo sales were up precisely 10 percent, for a total of 44 4Cs sold versus 40 in the same month last year. At FoMoCo, the Ford brand took a hit to the tune of 6.4 percent from May 2015 to 2016, registering 226,190 sales last month. Lincoln showed improvement on its modest numbers, going from 9,174 to 9,807, a 6.9 percent increase. Overall, Ford was down 5.9 percent for the month to 235,997; despite the slump, year-to-date total Ford sales are up 4.2 percent to 1,112,939. Strong sellers included Escape, Expedition, F-Series, and Transit - big stuff. Most small and/or efficient models (Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, C-Max) saw sales slides. Fusion sales were also down, likely due to effects of model changeover to the freshened 2017 model. Ford has promised four new crossovers and SUVs by 2020 and if things keep trending this way the company will be able to sell them, but things could change in the next four years. GM saw the worst of it for domestic brands. Retail and fleet sales were down for each of the four divisions, with the May 2016 total dropping 18 percent to 240,450 vehicles. GM's year-to-date sales are down 5.0 percent in 2016 to 1,183,705. Both the Sierra and Silverado were down significantly, and the majority of Chevy, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac nameplates saw sales decreases, with both small cars and larger utilities included. Not even big stuff could help GM this month, it seems. We'll have more on the rest of the industry's May sales as those figures trickle in.