Depending on where you live, a hiccup in GM’s truck supply lines might make buying a pickup from your local Chevrolet of GMC dealer difficult.

With its current line of Silverados and Sierras remaining unchanged since 2006, GM is falling behind the pack. There will be a new RAM pickup in the fall and Ford’s F-Series came on the scene two years after the current GM line. That line will be refreshed to remain competitive, but that means a full production halt for a total 29 weeks between all the plants affected.

Of course in that time, there will be a lapse in normal production, something the company tried to soften by ramping up production in anticipation. While that might seem like a solution in theory, problems started to rise when it became apparent that dealerships wouldn’t all have a positive disposition to bulking up truck supplies ahead of time.

Some dealerships are going with the plan, but according to Automotive News, there are also stores saying no to the trucks. As AIS Rebates, an Ann Arbor, Mich., firm that provides incentive data to dealers reports, there is a $3,000 incentive for dealers on crew cab versions of the Silverado and Sierra 1500, but anything beyond that is unlikely because the gap in production will already be squeezing GM’s profits.

That leaves dealerships in one of two places, which inevitably affects the consumer. Dealers will either find a stockpile of trucks that might not move given the impending approach of improved trucks, and those turning the vehicles away may find customers flowing to new dealerships or brands over the unavailability.

Either way, it could spell out a sweet situation for customers who play their cards right. On the one hand, your local dealer might put cash on the hood if there are too many trucks getting sun tans on the lot. In the other scenario, where that dealership runs dry, you might find another dealership eager to sweet talk new customers away from the competition.

[Source: Automotive News]

The pickup truck is an icon that embodies the working spirit. It’s every blue collar employee’s calling card and farmer’s best friend. Truck buyers grow especially close to their vehicles as trucks are a  key tool in earning a living, depending on them to last through days and years of service.

This man-and-machine relationship breeds intense brand loyalty, with some families staying true to a brand for years. So how does each manufacturer stack up to the others in terms of overall sales? We did the dirty work for you, so click through to see the top 10 best-selling trucks in America from 1990 through today.

Before moving forward, it’s important to note that delving directly to each truck’s sales numbers from original inception is difficult if not impossible given the degree of variation and frequently lost records.

“Where do you start counting Chevy pickups? In 1918, when the first cowl-chassis Four Ninety was sent out the door for upfitting, or in 1930, when the first Chevy with a factory bed was built,” GM’s Tom Wilkinson said during our interview. That said, we gathered the numbers from 1990 on, which offer a window into the overall trends in the truck market.

General Motors announced pricing for its bi-fuel Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 2500 heavy-duty pickup trucks today, saying the vehicles will cost $11,000 above base price. 

Customers may begin placing orders for the CNG trucks on March 19 and will be available in standard or longbox configurations with either two- or four-wheel drive.

“The announcement of the bi-fuel Silverado and Sierra has been well-received among customers, which sends a clear message that businesses are looking for alternative fuel options to meet their needs,” said Ed Peper, general manager, GM Fleet and Commercial Operations.  “The addition of the full-size bi-fuel pickups to our product portfolio is part of our commitment to offer great products, innovative business solutions and an exceptional customer experience.”

Running on either compressed natural gas (CNG) or gasoline, the trucks are powered by a 6.0-liter V8 that can seamlessly transition between fuels. Doing so will allow for between $5,000 and $10,000 in savings annually, according to GM. Although the trucks are initially more expensive, over time the reduced fuel costs will save money for the businesses that use them.

“Businesses are looking for ways to control their costs while reducing vehicle emissions and becoming less dependent on fluctuating gas prices. The low cost of ownership makes these vehicles a realistic solution,” said Joyce Mattman, director, GM Commercial Product and Specialty Vehicles.  “CNG has maintained a significantly lower retail price than either gasoline or diesel. The current average price of CNG is equivalent to $1.89 per gallon of gasoline.”

Now that you know Toyota is the top brand for cheating men, what other automakers are on the list?

According to the 2,520 men that were surveyed at AshleyMadison, a website dedicated to affair-seeking men and women, Mercedes-Benz came in 10th place with 2.9 percent. Even though it’s in the top 10 list, the small percentage of affair-seeking men driving Benzes clearly proves one thing: if you’ve got a Mercedes, chances are you’ve got the trophy wife that keeps you happy with it.

General Motors is recalling 50,001 SUVs, specifically from states where dealing with snow is regular, because the wiper arm may slowly loosen and become inoperative. 

The vehicles affected are certain model year 2011-2012 GMC Acadia, Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enlcave. All owners will be notified, and your local GM dealer will fix the issue, free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin on April 16, 2012. For more information you can contact the NHTSA safety hotline at  1-888-327-4236.

For a list of all States affected, see below.

States Affected by Recall

ALASKA, COLORADO, CONNECTICUT, DELAWARE, IDAHO, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, IOWA, MAINE, MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, MONTANA, NEBRASKA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK, NORTH DAKOTA, OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, RHODE ISLAND, SOUTH DAKOTA, UTAH, VERMONT, WEST VIRGINIA, WISCONSIN, WYOMING AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

Last month we reported the top 10 cars with the highest percentage of female owners, and now we have a less-than-surprising list of top 10 cars with the highest percentage of male buyers. The list is courtesy InsideLine with the data provided by Polk and reflects total purchases made last year in 2011.

Coming in at number 10 with 86.9 percent of its owners being male is the Chevrolet Corvette. Arguably the most iconic sports car in American history, it’s no surprise that the vast majority of them are owned and driven by men. In fact, there are few surprises on this list considering most of the vehicles are dream cars of teenage boys, or those suffering a mid-life crisis.

Time topples regimes, ends companies and kills men. A lot can happen in a century, yet that much has passed since the first GMC truck debuted in New York. 

In light of that, the automaker decided to debut a commemorative package that includes the Yukon, Yukon XL and Sierra trucks and SUVs. Bearing commemorative exterior badges, these special edition vehicles will debut next week at the New York Auto Show.

Of course, nothing is changed mechanically for any of them, but a few premium interior features and an ebony and light tan interior add to aesthetic appeal.

Still, the vehicles themselves aren’t even radically different from a luxury perspective. The Heritage Edition package is an option for SLT trim Yukons ($1,970) and Sierras ($2,645).

For that money you get embroidered floor matts, headrests and 20-inch chrome wheels, though those cost extra on the pickup truck. Other items include a rear view camera for the Yukon and 10-way leather memory seats for the Sierra.

GALLERY: GMC Heritage Edition package

General Motors is issuing a recall of 6, 159 vehicles citing problems with the steering gear pitman shaft. Certain 2012 Chevy Express vans, Suburban SUVs and GMC Savana’s and Yukons are affected by this recall.

GM is saying that the steering gear pitman shaft may not have been hardened adequately, causing a risk of the shaft breaking and leaving the vehicle with no steering. No steering whatsoever is obviously a very serious issue and can easily result in a collision if its occurs.

GM will be notifying all owners, or if you own one of these vehicles and want to get this taken care of you can visit your local GM dealer for a free inspection, and if necessary free replacement of the steering gear pitman shaft.

For more info you can contact the NHTSA safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236.

GM has revealed the 2013 GMC Terrain Denali ahead of its official unveiling at the 2012 New York Auto Show. The introduction of the Terrain Denali comes with the announcement of an all-new 3.6L V6 engine that will replace the outgoing 3.0L V6 for the 2013 Terrain  model year. The new V6 powerplant will be rated at 301-hp and 272 lb-ft of torque and is expected to deliver better fuel economy than its predecessor.

Those interested in a Terrain but not necessarily a V6 will still have the option of a 2.4L, four-cylinder Ecotec engine that has a best-in-class 32-mpg highway rating while sporting 182-hp and 172 lb-ft of torque. Front-wheel drive will be standard on the Terrain Denali with all-wheel drive available as an option for buyers.

The list of Denali-specific features is lengthy, but includes signature chrome grille, satin chrome accents, body-matched front and rear bumpers, rocker panels with satin chrome molding, new headlights and taillights, and a dual chrome exhaust – single on the 2.4L. Meanwhile, the interior of the Terrain Denali will receive soft-touch instrument panel with French stitching, leather-wrapped steering wheel with smoked mahogany wood accents, embossed Denali logos on front seatbacks, smoked mahogany wood trim throughout, Denali illuminated door sill plates, and eight-way power driver and passenger seats.

Pricing and availability for the 2013 Terrain Denali will be announced closer to its release in the third quarter of this year.

“Denali is growing fast,” said Tony DiSalle, U.S. vice president of GMC Marketing. “With seven different models, sales for this brand within a brand increased 79 percent from 2010 to 2011. With this in mind, the decision to create a more-upscale Terrain was an easy one.”

GALLERY: 2013 GMC Terrain Denali

Given it’s success peddling trucks and SUVs with the upscale Denali trim level, it probably doesn’t come as a surprise to learn that GMC is looking at adding further variations.

The latest we’ve got wind of is a Denali version of the compact Terrain crossover, which is expected to make its debut at this year’s New York International Auto Show. This follows on from the mid-size Acadia Denali, which since its launch earlier this year, has been accounting for around 30 percent of total Acadia sales (GMC also offers Denali trim levels on its Sierra 1500, Sierra HD and Yukon SUV models).

According to General Motors’ spokesman Terry Rhadigan, the launch of the Terrain Denali in New York, will kick off yet another new product blitz from America’s largest automaker, though at present the General is being rather tight-lipped about exactly what those new vehicles will be.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that it closed the investigations surrounding possible fires on the Volkswagen Passat and cracked cooling fans on various GM trucks without issuing a recall or fines to either automaker.

Originally the 2002-03 model year Passats were under investigation for possible ignition coil fires in July 2010 but things didn’t stop there. In January 2011, the investigation was upgraded to include 2001-07 VW Passat models with the four-cylinder, turbocharged engine. There were 135 unique fire engine reports attributed to the coil-on plugs, but after a thorough investigation there was no safety-related defect identified, so the investigation closed.

Unfortunately the investigation closure alone doesn’t ensure the absence of a defect. NHTSA will continue to monitor the issue to see if further action needs to be taken. None of the fires reached beyond the engine bay and no reports of crashes or injury were related to the 135 incidents.

GM on the other hand, got a thumbs-up after NHTSA looked into the cracked cooling fans on GMT-560 series of trucks. Those trucks span models from Chevrolet, GMC and Isuzu including the 4500 and 5000 medium-duty trucks. Even though NHTSA said that it “remains concerned about the potential for injury,” at the current time it can’t find the cause for the issue and that the complaints are “small and diminishing.”

Not exactly comforting, but we also know NHTSA would issue a recall if the organization saw fit to do so.

J.D. Power and Associates’ annual Customer Service Index Study offers crucial automotive information for consumers and the latest results are out.

Lexus tops the list  this year in the luxury segment while MINI made the top spot for mass market brands.

J.D. Power statistics are based on responses from over 84,000 new vehicle owners that rate dealer service performance during the first three years of vehicle ownership. Five facets of customer service are measured in the study: service quality, service initiation,  service advisor, service facility and vehicle pick-up. The responses are gathered from around the world to avoid regional bias, with statistics from 16 countries including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany and India.

The study is divided into two categories: luxury brands and mass market brands.

For the luxury brands segment, Lexus was rated with the best customer service for the fourth consecutive year, scoring 861 points of a possible 1000. The average luxury brand CSI ranking score was 835. Rounding out the top five top brands, from second to fifth are Cadillac, Jaguar, Acura and Porsche.

In the mass market segment, MINI took the top spot with an overall CSI ranking score of 809 where the average score for all automakers in the mass market segment was 778. While the company didn’t win overall,  GM dominated the top five mass market brands. From second to fifth they are Buick, GMC, Chevrolet and Hyundai.

Overall, J.D. Power reports that almost every brand has improved on the Customer Service Index scale in 2012, with 28 of the the 33 eligible brands improving their score. A leading factor in overall attitudes towards customer service is the change from less repair work to more maintenance that is happening at dealers thanks to better built cars, J.D. power says.

In 2012 72 percent of vehicle owners say that their latest dealer encounter was for routine maintenance and not repair work, a 9 percent increase from 2011.

Review the J.D. Power CSI charts below for a list of all car manufacturers.