USA RECALL - General motors is recalling 3.64 million units for software defects that impact on the airbag system.

GM is voluntarily recalling approximately 3.64 million 2014-17 model year vehicles in the United States. The sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) in these vehicles, which controls airbag and pretensioners deployment, contains a software defect that may prevent the deployment of frontal airbags and pretensioners in certain rare circumstances when a crash is preceded by a specific event impacting vehicle dynamics.

The recall includes certain:

• 2014-2016 model year Buick LaCrosse and Chevrolet SS and Spark EV
• 2014-2017 model year Chevrolet Corvette, Trax, Caprice PPV and Silverado 1500; Buick Encore; and GMC Sierra 1500
• 2015-2017 model year Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban and Silverado HD; GMC Yukon, Yukon XL and Sierra HD; and Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV

GM will notify customers, and dealers will update the software free of charge. Customers also can look up their vehicle identification number (VIN) at either NHTSA or GM websites to see if their vehicle is part of the recall.

The cost of the recall is not expected to be material and will be included in GM’s third quarter earnings.

USA RECALL - General Motors expands the Takata airbag recall with the addition of loads more vehicles.

GM is issuing a preliminary recall for certain 2007-2011 full-size trucks and SUVs with passenger-side front airbag inflators covered by Takata defect information reports (DIRs) submitted to NHTSA on May 16, 2016.

NHTSA’s Amended Consent Order directed Takata to file DIRs for previously unrecalled front airbag inflators using ammonium nitrate propellant without a drying agent. The order requires vehicle manufacturers named in the Takata reports to initiate recalls. Although GM does not believe that a safety defect exists at this time, the company is filing a preliminary recall in cooperation with NHTSA.

GM expects to provide NHTSA with additional test data, analysis or other relevant and appropriate evidence in support of its belief that these GM vehicles do not pose an unreasonable risk to safety.

In its order, NHTSA writes, “the Agency has concluded that the likely root cause of the rupturing of most non-desiccated frontal Takata air bag inflators is a function of time, temperature cycling, and environmental moisture.”

Because of the large number of vehicles with Takata inflators and the limited number of available replacement inflators, the NHTSA order sets up a multi-year, risk-based schedule for inflator replacements that prioritizes vehicles and regions of the country that pose a higher risk to safety.

GM believes that its 2007-2011 trucks and SUVs do not pose an unreasonable safety risk at this time. This is based on no inflator ruptures during an estimated 44,000 crash deployments as well as analysis of parts returned from the field, and can be explained by the unique Takata inflator made for GM’s vehicles and features unique to GM trucks and SUVs.

For example, the Takata passenger-side airbag inflators used in these trucks and SUVs are a variant engineered specifically for these GM vehicles, and include features such as greater venting, unique propellant wafer configurations and machined steel end caps. The inflators are packaged in the instrument panel in such a way as to minimize exposure to moisture from the climate control system. Importantly, these full-size trucks and SUVs have features and attributes that minimize the maximum temperature to which the inflator will be exposed, such as large interior volumes and standard solar-absorbing windshields and side glass.

GM will continue to test and monitor the Takata inflators in its vehicles.

• GM has initiated a third-party environmental conditioning study that will simulate long-term temperature cycling to continue assessing inflator aging and estimate likely service life.
• GM also is establishing a part return program that will collect and CT scan Takata inflators recovered from GM vehicles, primarily from the High Absolute Humidity areas believed to pose the highest risks.
• GM is continuing to closely monitor and study the performance of Takata airbag inflators in GM vehicles in the field.

If GM concludes at any time that these inflators are unsafe, the company will take appropriate action in cooperation with NHTSA.

This preliminary recall will cover certain 

2007-2011 pickups and SUVs including: 

Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 

Avalanche, 

Tahoe, 

Suburban, 

GMC Sierra 1500, 

Yukon, 

Yukon XL,

Cadillac Escalade, 

Escalade EXT,  

Escalade ESV,  

2009-2011 Silverado, 

Sierra 2500 and 3500 pickups.

Because the Takata DIRs are based on both vehicle age and the state in which the vehicle is or has been registered, the specific vehicles and total number of vehicles covered by this preliminary recall will be determined following an analysis of vehicle registration data.

GM will notify customers with vehicles involved in the recall with next steps, and provide updated information via a customer website, gmtakataairbag.com, and other channels.

GMC celebrates with it's best first quarter in ten years, and with new and future products sales will grow.

Brand’s first quarter was best in 10 years, and momentum continues

When it comes to midsize trucks, Mike Taylor of Dallas has switched from regular to premium. The 35-year-old IT engineer and consultant recently swapped his barely broken-in 2014 Toyota Tacoma for a 2015 GMC Canyon Crew Cab in Onyx Black. 

“The Canyon just offers so much more,” Taylor said while loading firewood into his truck bed recently. A military retiree and father of three, Taylor is especially fond of premium Canyon features such as the CornerStep rear bumper, large cargo bed, OnStar 4G LTE connectivity and crash-avoidance technologies.

“It’s as if GMC listened to its customers, addressed any concerns and then provided solutions,” said Taylor, who used the GM Military Discount to purchase his Canyon. 

Through June 30, all 22 million U.S. military active-duty, retirees, reserves and veterans are eligible for special military pricing; after June 30, the discount still applies, but covers veterans within a year of separation.

Taylor helped drive GMC’s total first-quarter sales up 15 percent compared with a year ago – for its best January-March since 2005. 

April retail and total sales were up 8.1 percent and 20 percent, respectively, marking 15 consecutive months of year-over-year sales gains for the brand.

Through April 30, GMC delivered 167,005 vehicles in the U.S., up 16 percent year over year. Overall, nearly 17 percent of GMC sales have been to import vehicle owners. 

For Canyon, the import conquest rate is nearly 24 percent as GMC continues to inject premium amenities into what used to be a bare-bones segment.

Separately, the Sierra full-size pickup saw its best April since 2004; Acadia and Terrain posted their best April sales ever; and it was the highest-performing month all year for Yukon and Yukon XL.

“As more consumers choose trucks, crossovers and SUVs, they discover GMC offers capacity and capability in a premium package with precision design, execution, attention to detail, advanced technologies and other upscale qualities they seek in a brand,” said Duncan Aldred, U.S. vice president, GMC.

“Our robust average transaction prices, relatively low incentive spend as a percentage of average transaction prices and the popularity of our top-of-the-line Denali trim level continue to demonstrate GMC’s appeal to discerning buyers,” said Aldred. 

“And for those who have not yet experienced all that GMC has to offer, our ‘Precision’ advertising campaign is raising awareness and increasing traffic in our dealerships.” 

GMC’s Denali line represents about 23 percent of all GMC sales but is nearly 60 percent of Yukon and Yukon XL full-size SUV sales and 44 percent of Sierra HD sales.

Surveys of GMC customers reveal their top reasons for purchase include exterior styling, quality, seating capability, towing capability, family-friendliness, value for the money and a previous positive experience with a GMC vehicle.

“The Canyon styling caught my eye,” said Taylor, who owned a 2009 Tacoma before he bought the 2014 model. 

“The difference (between Canyon and Tacoma) is like night and day – I couldn’t even get leather seats in the Tacoma. I thought I’d live and die with them, but the Canyon changed that.”

The Canyon development team spent months talking to midsize truck customers to determine how they used their trucks and what features they wanted in a new one.

Customer feedback helped inform popular Canyon features such as the segment’s largest cargo bed, connectivity and infotainment, the available GearOn cargo management system and available EZ-Lift and Lower tailgate.

GMC awards  

The GMC brand and its models have received numerous accolades. For the second year in a row, and on the strength of Denali, GMC won Kelley Blue Book’s Brand Image Award for Most Refined Brand, with high ratings for comfort, interior layout, technology and prestige/sophistication.

The award is based on consumer automotive perception data from Kelley Blue Book’s Market Intelligence's Brand Watch study, which taps into more than 12,000 in-market new-vehicle shoppers annually on Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com, capturing brand/model familiarity and loyalty among new-car shoppers.

Terrain, Yukon and Sierra 1500 lead their segments in the 2015 J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study. Canyon won AutoWeek’s 2015 Best of the Best Truck award and was named one of Ward’s 10 Best Interiors.

Editors evaluated the Canyon SLT model and praised the truck’s soft surfaces, thoughtful layout, and premium details such as contrast stitching, Bose audio system, easily navigated touchscreen and advanced safety features. They wrote that Canyon “feels more like a well-equipped SUV, but with a bed in the back.”

Forbes named Yukon and Canyon to its list of Hottest New Cars and Trucks for 2015. Acadia madeEdmunds.com’s list of the most popular 2015 models.

USA - GMC outguns other GM brands.

As General Motors tries to revitalize the images of Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac, executives might want to take a page from the playbook of their lowest-profile brand: GMC.

The truck brand has emerged as GM's healthiest since the automaker's exit from bankruptcy five years ago. GMC has outgained the bread-and-butter Chevy brand in market share since 2009, with a fraction of the marketing budget. Its revitalized lineup is commanding the biggest jumps in transaction prices of any GM brand. GMC's high-end Denali trim level has become a juggernaut while cultivating a loyal following among affluent, do-it-yourself types, outselling entire brands such as Lincoln, Jaguar and Land Rover. 

GMC, derided a decade ago as a collection of rebadged Chevys, is carving a niche as a premium truck brand - witness the customers lining up to pay $70,000 for the redesigned 2015 Yukon XL Denali. Last month, Kelley Blue Book named GMC the "most refined" brand among nonluxury marques. It has forged a clear brand identity through its "Professional Grade" marketing campaign, in place since 1998, during which time its corporate sibling brands have cycled through many advertising themes.

"We think of GMC as a niche brand for a very specific consumer mindset," says Roger McCormack, GMC marketing director. "But it's a 450,000-unit niche of profitable truck business."

For much of its 102-year history, GMC has padded GM's bottom line by selling trucks built on the same platforms as Chevrolets but priced higher. Until the early 1970s, the higher prices were justified by better powertrains and features not found in the Chevys, says John Wolkonowicz, an independent analyst and automotive historian in Boston. 

From the 1970s on, that distinction blurred amid GM's cost-conscious culture, as GMC became essentially a way for GM's non-Chevy dealers to sell trucks, even GM executives concede. As recently as 1999, GMC was marketing its long-wheelbase SUV as a Suburban, not even trying to separate the vehicle from the Chevy Suburban. GMC adopted the Yukon XL nameplate for the 2000 model year.

But GMC's vehicle designs have been diverging from Chevy's since the mid-2000s, Wolkonowicz says. That was punctuated by the introduction of the GMC Acadia large crossover in late 2006 and the Terrain compact crossover in 2009, which differed sharply from their Chevy counterparts, the Traverse and Equinox.

Since 2011, GMC customers have rated exterior styling as their No. 1 or 2 reason for purchase, McCormack says. The chiseled, industrial-looking designs of the 2014 Sierra full-sized pickup that debuted last year and the 2015 Canyon mid-sized pickup due in the fall represent stark departures from their Chevy counterparts.

"The people who buy GMCs are convinced they're getting something special, even though there isn't much difference from the Chevy beyond styling," Wolkonowicz says. 

Denali drives growth

GMC's latest entries have climbed so far up the premium ladder that now the brand has to worry less about overlapping with Chevy than bumping into Cadillac. Helen Emsley, executive director of global GMC design, encountered that problem when she lobbied to put real wood interior trim into the '15 Yukon and Yukon XL Denali, launched in February.

"Everybody told me, 'Oh you can't do that. That's an Escalade thing,'" says Emsley, a longtime Yukon XL Denali owner. "I said, 'No. These owners expect craftsmanship, real materials, a hand-stitched look.' We fought for it, and we got it."

Denali - a loaded trim level that often includes a more powerful engine, such as the 6.2-liter V-8 on the Yukon and Yukon XL vs. a 5.3-liter - has driven GMC's sales growth. GM says it accounted for about 20 percent of GMC's 450,901 unit sales last year, while elevating some models into luxury strata. 

The demographics of a Yukon XL Denali buyer suggest that the upscale line is pulling in a different breed of customer. Average household income: $188,000, vs. $134,000 for owners of non-Denali Yukons, GM says. Average age: 46, the youngest of any GMC model. Average transaction price: about $68,000.

Those figures suggest that there isn't much keeping those buyers from stepping up to an Escalade, which starts at $72,690, including shipping, for the redesigned 2015 model that debuted last month.

But that belies the low-key psychographic of the GMC buyer.

"They don't want to be seen as flashy," Emsley says.

Price producer

GMC tops GM's increases in average transaction prices.
	2009	2014*	Change
GMC	$35,915	$40,099	12%
Chevrolet	$28,514	$31,301	10%
Buick	$34,252	$33,798	–1%
Cadillac	$50,307	$48,177	–4%
Industry average	$28,196	$31,607	12%