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Autoblog Podcast #343

George Kennedy from Boldride.com, BMW i3, NACTOY long list, Bentley SUV
Episode #343 of the Autoblog podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth and Steven Ewing are joined by George Kennedy, Autoblog alum and Editor-in-Chief of Boldride.com. Topics include the unveiling of the BMW i3, the 2014 North American Car and Truck of the Year long list, and the green-lighted Bentley SUV. As always, we start with what's in the garage, but then answer some of your questions before diving into the week's news. For those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. You can follow along after the jump with our Q&A. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #343:

GM SUV window switch recall urges owners to park vehicles outside

It's not unusual for there to be a lag between an automaker announcing a recall and the official documentation showing up on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. So it's no surprise that a recent GM campaign took about a month to appear in its official capacity. However, there appears to be some big differences between the two reports with potential safety implications.
In late June, GM announced that it needed to recall 181,984 examples of the Chevrolet Trailblazer, Buick Rainier, GMC Envoy, Isuzu Ascender and Saab 9-7x from the 2005-2007 model years, plus the 2006 Chevy Trailblazer EXT and 2006 GMC Envoy XL. The new documents paint a slightly different picture with 184,611 needing repaired and different model years listed.
The reason for the fix is still the same, though. It's possible for fluid to contact the master power window switch module in the driver's door, which can corrode the part. Eventually this could cause a short circuit, leaving the buttons inoperable and potentially leading to a fire. But the new NHTSA documents add an important note: "A fire could occur even while the vehicle is not in use. As a precaution, owners are advised to park outside until the remedy has been made."

2020 Chevy and GMC HD truck spy shots reveal LED lighting

With Chevy and GMC's 1500 series pickups just starting to roll into dealerships, our attention naturally turns to the Heavy Duty 2500 and 3500 series trucks. We've seen these HD trucks testing already, but thes latest spy photos give us our first good glimpse of the two HD trucks' headlights through some translucent camouflage, and their designs appear very interesting and quite different from each other. The 2020 Chevrolet Silverado HD looks to be getting a striking set of LED lights that flank the grille. A previously released teaser image of the truck shows that the front lighting elements are split by a bulky wing that branches out from a big, upright chrome face, and both top and bottom units seem to incorporate LED slashes. If you look closely at the images, you can easily make out the Chevrolet script cut into the grille's top edge. Amidst a bevy of Chevy test trucks was one lone GMC model in a dually configuration, and the Sierra HD also appears to have some LED accent lighting up front. Unlike the boomerang-shaped Chevy LEDs, GMC's version sports a shoulder-like right angle of light bars. Assuming these are production-level lighting units, it seems the Sierra HD will stick pretty close to the face of GMC's latest light-duty pickup truck. We're still waiting for confirmation on what range of powertrains will be available in GM's next-gen HD trucks, but we're sure there will be both gasoline- and diesel-burning engines on the ordering sheet. We expect to hear official details on the trucks sometime soon. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2020 GM Heavy Duty Pickup Spy Photos View 18 Photos Image Credit: KGP Spy Photography Spy Photos Chevrolet GMC Truck gmc sierra hd chevy silverado hd