Month: February 2019

General Motors Will Stop Production at Five Plants in North America, Eliminate Some Car Models

Posted on by Cline Collision Center

General Motors has announced that it is “un-allocating” production at three vehicle assembly plants and two propulsion plants in North America.

Assembly plants that will be unallocated vehicles in 2019 include:

·       Oshawa Assembly in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.

·       Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Detroit.

·       Lordstown Assembly in Warren, Ohio.

Propulsion plants that will be unallocated in 2019 include:

·       Baltimore Operations in White Marsh, Maryland.

·       Warren Transmission Operations in Warren, Michigan.

They will be laying off up to 14,000 workers, however some could be moved to truck and SUV plants. This move is due to declining car sales as consumers are more interested in crossovers, electric vehicles, and autonomous cars. GM is interested in hiring those that are experts in software and electric and autonomous vehicles, letting go those who are now working on conventional cars that are equipped with internal combustion engines.

Wondering which models are on their way out the door? We’ve compiled a list of what we know so far.

1.     Chevrolet Volt

This surprises us the most. Weren’t plug in cars supposed to be the future?

2.     Cadillac CT6

Sad to see it go. Did you know that its semi-autonomous super cruise system still hasn’t been surpassed by any other company’s technology, not even the Tesla’s autopilot? Exciting news though is that the last of these Cadillac’s to be sold will be twin-turbo V8 V-Series models. They’ve got to at least go out with a bang!

3.     Chevrolet Impala

This one is headed out the door due to consumers preferring a traverse or equinox these days.

4.     Chevrolet Cruze

If you were looking for a small and affordable American vehicle, it was either this or the focus. We wish they would have at least tried out a Cruze SS before pulling the plug on its production.

5.     Buick LaCrosse

This was a luxury car for a Buick but was pulled simply because there was nothing there that stood out to excite people to purchase it.

6.     Cadillac XTS

It was announced 3 years ago that Cadillac would not continue the XTS past 2019, so we’re not too shocked to hear this. There’re just too many similarly sized Cadillac sedans around for this one to stand out in a crowd (think ATS, CTS, XTS, and CT6).

Cline Collision Center is an OEM certified repair shop located in Santa Rosa, CA. We offer auto body collision repair, auto body refinishing, frame straightening, bumper repair, car painting, dent removal, dent repair, and are excited to offer a free detail with every repair. Choose Cline Collision Center to get back that new car look and feel!

OEM Collision Repair Parts and Procedures Bill Becomes Law in Rhode Island

Posted on by Cline Collision Center

Rhode Island Senate Bill 2679 (SB 2679), that expands the state’s existing requirement that consumers be given the right to choose and insurers pay for OEM parts on claims for 30 months after a vehicle is manufactured to all claims for a period of 48 months, is now law in Rhode Island. The bill that was approved by the Rhode Island legislature in June along with its companion House Bill 8013 took effect without Governor Raimondo’s signature on July 4. This means that insurance companies in Rhode Island no longer require use of aftermarket auto body parts, and more importantly do not install these after market parts onto a vehicle without the owner’s consent. So long as their vehicle is less than 48 months beyond the vehicle’s manufacture date. There are some ups and downs to this law going into place for consumers. The upside is that you have more control of what parts go onto your new car. Some of you might be thinking “this is amazing who would want after market parts on their vehicle”? While OEM parts will restore your vehicle back to factory specifications (which, most people would prefer because their vehicle is still very new), some people like replacing parts with aftermarket ones when they either mechanically fail or get damaged by accident. Think of Jeeps. Many Jeep owners swap out the entire look of the vehicle, for after market parts. However, insurers are not to thrilled about this because it costs more to put OEM parts on vehicle’s most of the time. For example, The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America initially wanted this bill to be thrown out as it could create pressure to raise auto insurance premiums and raise auto repair costs.

“We’re disappointed that the governor decided to let this bill become law,” said Frank O’Brien, vice president of state government relations for PCI, in a statement to Insurance Journal. “It is yet another in a series of auto body-related bills that the Rhode Island legislature has passed and have gone into effect which do nothing but increase rates for Rhode Island consumers so that the auto body industry in Rhode Island can continue to make the kind of money that it makes.”

O’Brien had previously spoken out in a PCI press release against the bill when it passed the General Assembly, adding that, “Rhode Island drivers, as a result, could end up paying the highest auto insurance premiums in the U.S.”

As a consumer, what do you think about this new law? Should California consider implementing this too? Cline Collision Center is an OEM certified collision repair facility. Give us a call today to schedule your free estimate.