1971 Chevrolet El Camino Base Standard Cab Pickup 2-door 5.7l on 2040-cars

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GM laying off 500 workers to slow Chevy Sonic production

Due to slow sales of the Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Verano, General Motors is cutting a shift at the Orion Township plant that builds the pair. The move lays off about 500 workers, but most of them are expected to get offers to transfer to other factories, Automotive News reports. The move came just a day after GM announced adding 1,200 employees to the Detroit-Hamtramck plant. GM has been trying all year at the Orion Township factory to align production of the Sonic and Verano with their demand. The automaker first attempted idling the plant several times and eventually resorted to laying off about 100 workers. It also reduced the production rate there. With the huge rise in popularity of crossovers, demand for the plant's small cars is on the downturn. According to Automotive News, there's currently a 116-day supply of Sonics and 100 days of Veranos to sell. Delivers tell a similar tale because the Chevy is off 35.2 percent from January to September, and the Buick does little better with a 27.2 percent drop from the same period last year. While the situation at Orion Township might look rough now, big things are on the horizon. Soon, the new Chevy Bolt electric vehicle will be built there when it hits the market around 2017. Plus, the plant will also get a $245-million upgrade and 300 new jobs for another, unannounced vehicle.

Porsche 911 tops a list of must-have classics, but No. 2 is more of a surprise

No surprise here: In Europe, the Porsche 911 is the most sought-after classic car. Surprise here: Slip-streaming the 911 in the most sought-after chart compiled by the Car & Classic marketplace is the Ford Mustang. Using the Google search engine as a means to pick the winners, as well as the average prices achieved on the “Car and Classic” website, the venerable 911 was tagged 1.45 million times per month according to data stretching back 15 years. The number of 911Â’s sold though the C&C marketplace was 21,141, at an average price of 58,409 pounds, or $74,300. FordÂ’s pony car, still a popular choice for buyers in Europe, placed second on the list with 1.2 million monthly searches. The average sales price over 15 years was 31,107 pounds ($39,570), and the number of older Mustangs sold reached a total of 8,332. Models that also finished among the charted top 10 include the Land Rover Range Rover, the Corvette, the ultra-classic British favorite Jaguar E-Type and the BMW 3 Series. “Whilst a 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS could set you back the best part of GBP500,000 ($636,000), there are many more affordable models, which bring the average sale price of a 911 on Car & Classic to GBP58,000 ($73,800) – the third highest average selling price of any make and model on the site,” explained Dale Vinten of Car & Classic. According to the site, the Jaguar fetched the highest average selling price: a whopping 89,000 pounds, or $113,000. But thatÂ’s peanuts compared to a Series 1 Roadster in excellent condition, said Vinten. For that, “you can expect to spend up to GBP250,000 ($318,000), A Series 2 or 3 will cost less, as they are not as desirable, but in decent condition you can expect to pay around GBP40,000-GBP50,000. Even a barn find 1969 E-Type Series 2 Roadster can set you back to the tune of GBP33,000 ($42,000)." Launched in 2005, Car & Classic is among EuropeÂ’s most popular classic car clearinghouses. It also runs a stand-alone auction site.

GM will stop reporting monthly U.S. vehicle sales

DETROIT — General Motors said on Tuesday it will stop reporting monthly U.S. vehicle sales, saying the 30-day snapshot does not accurately reflect the market, and will instead issue quarterly sales. GM will also no longer report monthly sales in China, its largest market, and Brazil. GM will provide monthly data to the U.S. Federal Reserve, industry associations and government agencies across the globe, but that data is not made public. Analysts and investors rely on monthly U.S. vehicle sales not just to track the performance of individual automakers, but as a barometer of the health of the world's second-largest auto market and as an indicator of consumer confidence in the U.S. economy overall. GM and its Detroit rivals Ford and Fiat Chrysler have relied heavily on sales of high-margin pickup truck and SUV sales to boost profits. GM's total U.S. sales, its second-largest market, are down 3.2 percent for the first two months of 2018, reflecting a 6.8 percent drop in retail sales to individual customers, the company reported last month. GM executives have expressed frustration that comparisons of monthly U.S. sales results among rival automakers are distorted by short-term discount programs, and by differences in strategy for selling vehicles in bulk to rental car fleets. "Thirty days is not enough time to separate real sales trends from short-term fluctuations in a very dynamic, highly competitive market," Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president for sales operations said in a statement. GM's actions could prompt other automakers to also switch to quarterly U.S. sales reports. Major automakers will report March U.S. new vehicle sales on Tuesday. Until the early 1990s, most U.S. automakers released sales results every 10 days. The former Chrysler Corp. stopped reporting sales on a 10-day basis in 1990, and rivals followed suit over the next three years. GM executives are betting that investors will quickly adapt to receiving U.S. sales data every three months, as investors in other retail sectors already have. Retailers such as Walmart report sales on a quarterly basis. Reporting by Joe WhiteRelated Video: Image Credit: Reuters Earnings/Financials Green Buick Cadillac Chevrolet GM GMC US