Jamie L. LaReau | Detroit Free Press

Drive it Home Ohio, Detroit Free Press

Mary Schroeder, Special to the Free Press

General Motors spent the year raising money to develop robot cars, hiring top tech talent, and cutting other salaried and hourly workers — all while it makes plans to close plants that build out-of-favor sedans by the end of 2019.

GM also said it will move Cadillac back to Michigan from New York to give it new and improved vehicles to sell in a move to revive the brand's sales.

Here are six stories on GM that stand out this year:

New pickups

The redesigned 2019 GMC Sierra Denali and 2019 Chevrolet Silverado pickups are GM's big moneymakers. Those sales pay for much of GM's research and development in other areas such as self-driving cars. The new pickups began trickling into dealerships in late August. GM introduced the new trucks earlier this year in anticipation of robust sales of the highly profitable vehicles. The GMC Sierra Denali with its MultiPro tailgate is a standout in the pickup segment, analysts said. It has six unique functions that allow for various loading options and can even fold into a standing workstation and allow easier access to items in the box.

John F. Martin for Chevrolet

Robot cars

GM spent $1 billion this year to develop self-driving cars and made investment deals with Honda and SoftBank to help fund the vehicles. GM's self-driving vehicle unit, GM Cruise, is working to be first to bring fully self-driving cars to market. Cruise and Waymo, a subsidiary of Google, are considered the leaders in the crowded race, and San Francisco is the proving grounds to refine the technology.

Stacey Randecker Bartlett, Special to the Free Press

Talent battle

In June, GM aggressively escalated its recruiting efforts as it battled Ford Motor Co. for top tech talent, even older workers. GM had been on a hiring spurt for nearly five years as it sought to develop automated and electrified vehicles. Nearly 40 percent of GM's 67,000 salaried full-time global workers are new compared with five years ago. To attract and retain them, GM spent nearly $1 billion on renovations to its Detroit and Warren facilities.

General Motors

Cadillac confusion

Cadillac got a new boss this year, Steve Carlisle. It also got a new (old) home, returning its headquarters to metro Detroit after three years in New York's upscale SoHo neighborhood. The return to Michigan supports its ongoing product expansions and puts the Cadillac team closer to the design and engineering experts working on the new cars, as it looks to improve quality. Cadillac was next to last in the annual Consumer Reports reliability survey of auto brands and Cadillac ranked 27th out 31 brands in the J.D. Power 2018 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study released earlier this year.

General Motors

Salaried buyouts

On Oct. 31, GM CEO Mary Barra sent an email to all 54,000 salaried GM employees in North America saying the automaker would offer voluntary buyouts to the 17,700 salaried employees with 12 years or more with GM. Most global executives are also eligible. The sent shock waves among workers, especially after leaders told white-collar workers GM wanted to cut at least 8,000 jobs and had only 2,250 takers. That means thousands of involuntary job cuts after the first of the year.

J. Scott Applewhite, AP

Plant closings

On Nov. 26, GM said it will close its factories in Detroit-Hamtramck; Lordstown, Ohio; and Oshawa, Ontario by the end of 2019. More than 6,200 hourly jobs are in jeopardy, including 645 jobs at transmission plants in Warren and near Baltimore. GM and Barra have come under withering criticism from President Donald Trump and politicians in Ohio and Michigan, but the company said the cuts are necessary to position the business for market changes. The plants being idled make sedans, which are out of favor with consumers, including the Chevrolet Volt, Cruze and Impala, the Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac XTS.

William D. Lewis The Vindicator, AP

Star power

FInally, GM, particularly Chevrolet, got a sprinkle of stardust this year. Movie star and businessman Mark Wahlberg partnered with metro Detroit car dealer Jay Feldman this summer to launch Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet in Columbus, Ohio. He told the Free Press he wants to open more dealerships in metro-Detroit soon. Wahlberg's Ohio store will have "the biggest inventory and the best selection of Chevrolets … all at the best prices!" Each car comes with a three-day buyback guarantee, he said.

Al Gillespie