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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. 

GMC Hummer EV coming to Extreme E with Chip Ganassi Racing

The electric off-road racing series Extreme E is getting another famous face. This time it's not a person, but rather a vehicle: the GMC Hummer EV. GMC announced that it will be the main sponsor for the Chip Ganassi Racing Extreme E team. With the sponsorship, GMC gets to tweak the Extreme E Odyssey 21 race SUV to look more like the Hummer EV pickup and SUV that starts production late this year. The changes are subtle but effective, with the nose getting a full-width light-bar motif. Of course the race SUV is vastly more rounded than the road-going truck. It also features a standardized chassis from Spark Racing and a battery pack from Williams. The team is able to provide its own electric motor, though, which the series limits to 550 horsepower. The GMC Hummer EV race SUV will make its competition debut alongside several other pedigree teams at the first Extreme E event in Saudi Arabia this April. Three teams are operated by Formula One drivers including Sir Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button, the latter of whom will be driving. Andretti United will also field a team, a familiar competitor to Chip Ganassi in other racing series such as IndyCar. As for drivers, two World Rally Championship champions will compete: Carlos Sainz and nine-time consecutive champion Sebastien Loeb. The series will feature five races and with the way the competition is shaping up, they should be very interesting to watch. Related video:

GMC Hummer EV recalled over improperly sealed battery pack

Over 700 units of the GMC Hummer EV built during the 2022 and 2023 model years will be recalled due to an improperly sealed battery pack that lets water in. The firm issued a stop-delivery order at the same time as the recall, and it hasn't found how to fix the problem yet. Assigned recall number 22V-771 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the campaign includes 735 examples of the Hummer EV and 89 units of the BrightDrop Zevo 600 van. These two vehicles are pegged on opposite ends of the automotive spectrum, but they're affected by the same problem: "the high-voltage battery pack enclosure in some of these vehicles may not have been properly sealed," GMC notes, adding that "flanges on the battery pack enclosure may not have been properly primed or electrocoated." Water can wreak havoc in a high-voltage battery pack. GMC told NHTSA that it has found three EVs with this problem: an internal test vehicle that lost power while driving and two customer-owned vehicles that wouldn't start. As of writing, the firm is not aware of any accidents, injuries, or fires related to the issue, and GMC estimates that only about 1% of the recalled EVs are affected. GMC began notifying dealers of the recall in October 2022, and it plans to start reaching out to owners on November 28, 2022. However, a fix hasn't been found yet. In the meantime, the company issued a stop-delivery order and asked dealers not to attempt their own repairs. This isn't the Hummer EV's first run-in with water-related problems. In August 2022, General Motors voluntarily recalled 424 units of the Hummer EV and the Zevo 600 van due to a high-voltage connector that can prematurely corrode. The problem also let water leak into the battery pack, though it sounds like fixing it was reasonably straight-forward and involved applying sealant to the connector. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Featured Gallery 2022 GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 First Drive View 17 Photos Green GMC Hummer Truck Electric