1970 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu Hardtop 2-door 5.7l on 2040-cars

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Cadillac CT6 production ceases January 2020 as part of D-Ham layoffs

General Motors filed paperwork under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act with Michigan's Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity this week, detailing events to come at the automaker's Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant. Starting February 28, 814 salaried and hourly workers at D-Ham, as its called, will be laid off. The 753 workers represented by the UAW will begin receiving offers in January to relocate to facilities in Michigan and Ohio, or buyout offers. As the 4-million-square-foot plant winds down through April 3 to a skeleton crew, the Cadillac CT6 ceases production in January 2020, and the last Chevrolet Impala comes off the line on February 28. The loss of the CT6 represents the end of Cadillac's latest brief, and highly regarded, adventure into flagship sedans. It might also mean the end of the 4.2-liter Blackwing twin-turbo V8 engine, at least for the moment. Both casualties are calamities. The death of the Impala closes the door on a nameplate in production for 52 years since 1957, having started off as a top-tier trim for the 1958 Bel Air known as the Bel Air Impala, once advertised with the line, "Lets you know you're the boss." As part of the new four-year labor agreement with the UAW, GM is keeping D-Ham open to build a new line of battery-electric vehicles, ultimately investing $3 billion and tripling employment to 2,225 workers when fully operational. The agreement described the coming EV as a "van" that would commence production in late 2021, but various reports say what's actually coming is a range of premium EVs in pickup and SUV bodystyles under the program codename BT1. The easy predictions put an electric GMC Sierra and Cadillac Escalade among the EV fold, but not until 2023, according to auto industry forecaster LMC Automotive. Before that, LMC claims an electric van will debut in late 2021, along with a battery-powered rebirth of the Hummer brand in pickup and SUV forms, also in late 2021. 

Zombie cars: A dozen discontinued vehicles people still buy new

Car models come and go, but as revealed by monthly sales data, once a car is discontinued, it doesn't just disappear instantly. And in the case of some models, vanishing into obscurity can be a slow, tedious process. That's the case with the 12 cars we have here. All of them have been discontinued, but car companies keep racking up "new" sales with them. There are actually more discontinued cars that are still registering new sales than what we decided to include here. We kept this list to the oldest or otherwise most interesting vehicles still being sold as new, including a supercar. We'll run the list in alphabetical order, starting with *drumroll* ... BMW 6 Series: 55 total sales BMW quietly removed the 6 Series from the U.S. market during the 2019 model year. It had been available in three configurations, a hardtop coupe, a convertible and a sleek four-door coupe-like shape.   BMW i8: 18 total sales We've always had a soft spot for the BMW i8, despite the fact that it never quite fit into a particular category. It was sporty, but nowhere near as fast as similarly-priced competitors. It looked very high-tech and boasted a unique carbon fiber chassis design and a plug-in hybrid powertrain, but wasn't really designed for maximum efficiency or maximum performance. Still, the in-betweener was very cool to look at and drive, and 18 buyers took one home over the course of 2021.   Chevy Impala: 750 total sales The Impala represented classic American tastes at a time when American tastes were shifting away from soft-riding sedans with big interior room and trunk space and into higher-riding crossovers. A total of 750 sales were inked last year.   Chrysler 200: 15 total sales The Chrysler 200 was actually a pretty nice sedan, with good looks and decent driving dynamics let down by a lack of roominess, particularly in the back seat. Of course, as we said regarding the Chevy Impala, the number of Americans in the market for sedans is rapidly winding down, and other automakers are following Chrysler's footsteps in canceling their slow-selling four-doors. Even if Chrysler never really found its footing in the ultra-competitive midsize sedan segment, apparently dealerships have a few leftover 2017 200s floating around. And for some reason, 15 buyers decided to sign the dotted line to take one of these aging sedans home last year.

Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla P85D upgrades coming soon, lease a Chevy Volt for $149 a month

CarCharging has raised $6 million from shareholders and has restructured to save cash. The EV charging company plans to expand further in 2015 - with an eye toward achieving profitability - in part by investing in technology and "unlocking the value of our significant equipment inventory," says CarCharging CEO Michael D. Farkas. The group expects to reduce administrative costs by 40 percent, and has hired an interim Chief Financial Officer to help carry out its plans for growth. CarCharging raised the cash through offering convertible preferred stock to its shareholders, whom Farkas thanked "for their passion and patience." Read more in the press release below. Rydell Chevrolet in Los Angeles is offering Chevrolet Volt leases for $149 per month. In a video ad, Rydell offers the Volt for $169 a month with $3,390 due at signing, but another ad shows the offer at $149 a month with $3,550 down or $248 per month with $0 down. Rydell Chevrolet will ship the car anywhere in the lower 48 states. It also appears they offer cupcakes. See Rydell's video below, or read more at Inside EVs. Tesla will upgrade the Model S P85D with higher performance and top speed. The free update, which is due "in the next few months" according to a statement from Tesla, will raise the electronically limited top speed from 130 to 155 miles per hour. "Additionally, an over-the-air firmware upgrade to the power electronics will improve P85D performance at high speed above what anyone outside Tesla has experienced to date," Tesla says. The update will be available for the lifetime of the car, which includes subsequent owners. Read more at Green Car Reports. Car Charging Group Completes $6 Million Capital Raise Concurrently Enacts Restructuring Actions to Reduce Cash Burn MIAMI BEACH, Fla., Dec. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Car Charging Group, Inc. (OTCQB: CCGI) ("CarCharging" or the "Company"), the largest owner, operator, and provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging services, today announced that it has closed an offering (the "Offering") and raised net proceeds of up to $6 million with current institutional shareholders. The Offering consisted of convertible preferred securities with a conversion price of $0.70 and warrants exercisable at $1.00. Proceeds will be used to: - Strengthen CarCharging's balance sheet; - Build on the past year's progress; and - Provide growth capital for expanding the Company's network.