3500 Duramax Diesel Crewcab 8'6" Cm Flatbed Work Truck 4x4 - We Finance! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Lincoln, GMC clean up in AutoPacific Vehicle Satisfaction Awards

In recent years, there have been a lot of dire pronouncements made about Lincoln's future, or a lack thereof. But Ford's premium marque is like the Rocky Balboa of the auto business; every time the company seems ready to go, it comes back for more. Apparently, that dogged persistence is paying off, because the industry analysts at AutoPacific have put a big check in their win column with their newly released 2014 model year vehicle satisfaction survey. And despite recent enmity for its seemingly never-ending recall saga, it appears General Motors knows how to satisfy new owners, too.
In fact, not only was Lincoln named as the premium brand with the highest new owner satisfaction, even scored three models on the list of passenger cars with the most gratified buyers - the MKS, MKZ and MKZ Hybrid.
GM's stable of brands was also among the top companies in this year's survey. GMC was named the top popular brand by AutoPacific, with its Sierra pickup and Acadia crossover singled out for awards in their segments. Chevrolet also did incredibly well, with more cars on the list than any other brand. The Corvette, Camaro, Sonic and Impala all made the cut in their respective categories.

GM announces net 220 job increase as Trump visits Michigan

GM announced today that about 900 jobs would be added (or, importantly, retained) ahead of President Trump's arrival in Michigan, where he is expected to discuss his plan to roll back fuel economy standards. The timing of the announcement is almost certainly not coincidental, as appending it to a Trump visit gives it a higher profile and dovetails with the President's jobs agenda. It's less likely the decision itself was made for those reasons, but the free PR boost is a nice bonus. As for those 900 jobs themselves, they aren't all new jobs. The only net gain is approximately 220 jobs at the Romulus Powertrain Plant, which produces the 10-speed automatic transmission that's proliferating through the company's lineup. The 180 jobs at Flint Assembly and 500 jobs at Lansing Delta Township are retained jobs – that is to say, spots the company found for workers who would otherwise have been laid off. By the way, the Flint jobs will help with production of heavy-duty pickups, and the Lansing jobs are to produce the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave. Finding jobs for manufacturing workers in the auto sector, whether new or retained, is admirable. No matter how GM couches it, the company has created or retained a total of 7,000 jobs this year, and its total reinvestment in US production is around $1 billion. But these decisions are business ones, not political ones – timing the announcements to make them seem inspired by economic policy, or the political situation, is simply smart PR. Related Video: Image Credit: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images Celebrities Government/Legal Buick Cadillac Chevrolet GMC

Son surprises his dad by restoring his 1949 pickup for Christmas

Norman Meal, an 83-year-old retired farmer from Rushville, IN, nearly missed his big Christmas gift when his son, Kyle, first presented it to him. Norman was oblivious and was looking all over the garage floor until Kyle pointed out a satin black pickup with a bow on it parked inside. This wasn't just another case of a child buying a parent a dream vehicle; the '49 GMC sitting there was Norman's very first truck that was restored and ready to drive. According to Fox 59 WXIN, Norman's father purchased the GMC in 1949, and Norman bought it from him in the mid '50s to use on the farm. However, for about the past 13 years, the truck had been rotting away in the garage of one of Kyle's friends. As a perfect gift to his dad, Kyle took the pickup to a restoration shop to make the old vehicle roadworthy again. Practically everything was replaced – except for the horn. Thankfully, Kyle filmed his dad's reaction to getting the GMC. Check it out and watch them take a drive in the heartwarming video above.