General Motors To Kill Chevy Volt, Cruze & Impala, Plus Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac CT6, XTS
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Amid a massive global restructuring announced early Monday morning, General Motors has also confirmed plans to discontinue multiple models as it changes direction, retools its workforce and its product offerings to better meet demand for crossovers and pickup trucks.
Cadillac XTS
Cadillac CT6
General Motors said that before the end of 2019, it will idle the GM Lordstown Plant in Ohio, the GM Detroit-Hamtramck plant in Michigan, and GM Oshawa Assembly in Ontario, Canada. In a statement, the company simply said the plants in question wouldn’t be receiving product allocation, but failed to mention what might be in store for the beleaguered products.
Buick LaCrosse
However, new information tells us that GM plans to end production of the Chevrolet Volt, Cruze, and Impala, along with confirming that the Buick LaCrosse is also scheduled for the slaughterhouse. These confirmations echo a similar report from over a year ago, which cited that all of these vehicles will be culled, along with the Cadillac XTS and CT6. Today’s announcement also indicate that these decisions were a long time coming.
Chevrolet Cruze
Both the Chevrolet Volt and Chevrolet Cruze are expected to be phased out of production by March 2019, while the Chevrolet Impala will soldier on until the fourth quarter of next year. The Buick LaCrosse will also be shown the door in March 2019. There still remain some question marks, namely the fate of the Cadillac CT6 which is currently produced in the Detroit-Hamtramck plant alongside the Impala. It’s thought the big Cadillac sedan could join its siblings at GM’s facility in Lansing which currently produces the ATS, CTS, and Chevrolet Camaro. This past June, General Motors said it would invest $175 million into the plant for the express purpose of producing new Cadillac sedans (the CT5 and CT4), while the CT6 itself just received a major update for the 2019 model year, including the introduction of the new 2019 CT6-V model.
Chevrolet Impala
Meanwhile, the loss of the Oshawa Assembly plant in Canada likely spells the definitive end for the Cadillac XTS, which was granted a stay of execution under former Cadillac boss, Johan de Nysschen. Oshawa also handles final assembly and paintwork of the previous generation Silverado and Sierra, both of which are scheduled to exit production come December 2019. It’s likely the XTS will bow out of North America around the same time.
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I hate to say I was right but….I was right. I knew Johan de Nysschen wasn’t going to be able to implement all his grandiose plans for Cadillac. GM is way too shortsighted to invest lavishly on something that isn’t paying dividends and won’t have a return on investment for a decade to come. Further, no CT6 pretty much signals no CT8/Escala and Blackwing is probably a still born engine. CT4 and CT5 may live very short lives as well if they are even launched.
Cadillac’s future, if it has one at all, is probably just three rebadged Chevrolet crossovers; XT4, XT6, Escalade, and some sort of rebodied Bolt.
I sure didn’t want to right about this. It’s very sad. I’d like to see GM sell off the Cadillac brand to another company that understands its heritage and could properly manage it.
I completely agree with your last paragraph. I’ve been saying it for sometime now, Cadillac’s only hope is for GM to sell them to someone who does right by Cadillac.
Geeley would’ve turned Cadillac’s luck around by now have they bought them instead of Volvo.
True. I’d hate to see Cadillac in the hands of the Chinese but there is no argument that Volvo is prospering again while Cadillac is as lost as ever still being run by General Mismanagement (GM). At least with Geely, it wouldn’t end up getting the Oldsmobile treatment which is where I think Cadillac is headed.
Regarding your point on Cadillac’s remaining portfolio:
Selling gussied up Chevrolets is exactly where Cadillac was in the late 90’s. It’s also stooping down to the mission of Buick and GMC.
The obvious issue is that Cadillac will spend their last decade competing with Buick Avenir, GMC Denali, and Chevy Premiers in the showroom.
But hey, commentators here and elsewhere complained that Cadillac should stop competing with the Germans and sell soft, cushy barges again, which was Buick’s job. Cadillac is no longer competing with the German 3, therefore they no longer have a reason to exist.
Very sad day.
Cadillac will be a great competitor for Lincoln and Acura….
With the Lincoln Aviator and Navigator, Cadillac will be outclassed, as there’s no evidence that GM has invested to make Omega or VSS-R compatible with CUVs.
Besides the CT4 & CT5, all Cadillac has left are CUVs that are in, some shape or form, Chevies:
XT4= Chevy Malibu
XT5= Chevy Blazer
XT6 (SWB?)= 3-Row Chevy Blazer?/GMC Acadia
XT6 (LWB?)= Chevy Traverse
Hold up! What’s gonna happen to the Blackwing V8????
Update: The Drive reached out to Cadillac & a spokesperson told them that the CT6 V will be offered as a 1 year model only.
Wait wait wait. So they spent all that money, and time on the CT6, plus the MCE for 2019 along with a V series to cancel it? That cannot be true.
The CT6 is a beautiful car and while it’s not selling like a crossover, it’s an important car in the Cadillac lineup. I highly doubt that GM would kill it after the MCE effort. If they do, then they’re just throwing money into a hole
According to The Drive, the CT6 will continue production in China for the Chinese market, but no word about exporting it to the Middle East, South Korea or Russia.
I’ve been watching GM for a while. Don’t try to understand it, just accept it. CT6 is dead. CT6-V is dead. It doesn’t matter that they just spent a lot of money on it to make it into the car it should have been at launch. It doesn’t matter that the just developed a new V-8 for it. GM spent a lot on Oldsmobile too and just when their image was turning around which would’ve hopefully resulted in better future sales, GM pulled the plug on their oldest and arguably most storied division. Fiero and Allante’ had the same fate. It’s what GM does.
Johnan de Nysschen’s departure foreshadowed all of this. He had a vision for Cadillac that required a lot of money to be spent. GM agreed at the outset but then cut him off as the investment didn’t appear to be returning the profits that the accountants wanted to see.
Not to mention all the money they spent on the MCE for the La Crosse, and the $300 million it took to retool Detroit_Hamtramck for the CT6.
I suspect they will continue selling the Buick LaCrosse but only in China, since those recent spyshots of the LaCrosse MCE were seen.
I think this is a huge mistake and fall from grace for Caddy. Just like you said, they spent all the money and development for a new flagship sedan, which was going to usher in a new series for Cadillac. Now they’re burning it all to the ground!
gm generally throws money in holes.
Giving the cars segment to Japenese/Koreans companys isnt the option. When you will learn GM.
But look, at least they saved a buck that will be wasted on autonomy and electrification that few people want….
As a CTS owner and a very interested customer in the upcoming CT5 (was ?) I’m going to wait a few more days until jumping to conclusions about Cadillacs future–but it looks a little depressing today.
Leave the CT6 alone, Mary!
It’s a flagship! It brought one of the best platforms in the industry, that GM has failed to leverage in other vehicles (XT6 anyone?). It brought SuperCruise to the market, GMs most advanced technology in years, with many saying it rivals if not surpasses Tesla. And the latest treat, Blackwing! It has done exactly what it needed to do as a flagship, but GM is failing it because they are so short-sighted and don’t know how to properly leverage a flagship vehicle, because they never truly had one in any of their brands!
As for sales, it is neck and neck with the ATS and CTS, vehicle’s that are much more attainable. In Q3 the CT6 outsold the ATS.
GM is a fool if CT6 production does not shift to join the ATS and CTS at their factory, and Cadillac has no chance at true luxury.
I miss JDN!
I’m not too convinced that CT6 is dying off completely and could move to Lansing to join CT4/5 models.
We’ll see a year from now.
The challenge with CT6 is that the Omega structure is unique in the sense that it is a hybrid of aluminum and steel panels. A special body shop had to be built to accommodate construction of the body at a cost of $300 million. I do not see GM spending that kind of money for a car that only sells 10K units a year.
I’d say the Escalade is more of a flagship than the CT6. Sells better, costs more, and is much more “Cadillac”.
Escalade is a thinly disguised Chevy Tahoe which is itself a Chevy work truck under the skin. There is simply no comparison between CT6 and Escalade as a flagship.
With that being said, what is GM’s flagship vehicle now? Cadillac was supposed to be the top of the line.
A better solution might be for General Motors to fire CEO Mary Barra because she signed off on all of these cars are considered as being failures which need to be replaced, the individual which gave each vehicle project the green light should be held responsible; maybe it’s time to bring back Bob Lutz.
What part of “nobody can sell sedans today” don’t you get?
And yet the best selling luxury car in the US is a sedan- model 3.
The Germans do.
Worldwide.
A lot.
Profitable.
Only Americans can’t sell sedans.
Only Americans can’t sell cars and suv’s in europe.
The biggest automotive failures of today are the American Ford and GM.
It is not a matter of selling or not selling sedans- it is a matter of selling what the market wants. Barra failed miserably in this area. While Ford and FCA recognized the trends of diminishing sedan sales and retooled their plants accordingly, GM did nothing and instead just pulled the plug on most of its sedans pissing about 250K units of sales a year in the process and cheerfully handing that market share off to competitors.
I say the sooner the better.
LMAO.
How can luxury buyers trust Cadillac?
A volatile brand and cars; Allante, Cimmaron, Catera, Deville, Seville, Fleetwood, Eldorado, DTS, DHS, ATS, CTS, SRX, CT6, XTS, ELR, XLR -where is the stability?
C, E, S, 3, 5, 7, LS, IS, ES have been around for years people know and trust those car names.
Yes, it the CT6 is dead!
They fired JDN – because he had a good vision. GM’s vision of Cadillac is tarted up Chevys with leather to compare with global brands.
CT4, CT5, XT4, XT5, XT6, Escalade – Yeap that sounds like a luxury brand I would aspire to.
BMW has more Xs and MB has more Gs than Cadillac’s whole line up
You are 100% right!
Which car in the Cadillac lineup has been around the longest?
What is the only Cadillac model with a “real” name?!?!
What model is closest to the “old” Cadillac of being the biggest, most luxurious, most expensive, most “in your face” when it pulls up?
What model (I’d argue out of every American car) says “I’ve made it”?
Now answer me this; What is Cadillac’s best selling model?
Fire her…….
Sexestt
You dam Skippy I’ll be sexist if my job gets cut while forcing the loyal buyers to go import…
what are you talking about gramps, we saw you checkin out that new Santa fay on Hyundai.com , you know the cheap asian plastic allures you as well…
too bad about the volt. great car but not worth $37,500 w/o tax credits.
if they are killing off the ct6, that doesn’t bode well for the ct4/5.
This a sedan thing. There will be a Trax/Encore Volt or Bolt soon enough. Mark my digital characters.
Old GM is back and Bloody Marry is ready to kill another brand (Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab, Hummer, Opel, Holden…). The end of mighty GM is near.
so you think gm should’ve kept all those brands? more brands more money?
In reality, Pontiac would have been relatively costless since it was already integrated with Buick and GMC. I am sure a Trans Am or a Grand AM coupe would have attracted a good number of buyers.
I don’t think so…
In fact they probably realized they spread too much and that they’re late in the electric game – although they we’re visionary for a brief moment with the Bolt.
Transitioning a large company like GM to a new car model is extremely risky. It seems they want to try but there’s also the humongous ICE legacy they’re carrying.
If they actually do this purge to ease the transition toward electric vehicles, they may succeed.
If all of this is just an excuse to do some cleanup and they focus, like Ford (pun intended), on pick-ups, I do agree they’re in for a painful extinction.
I still think that at the very least Pontiac could have been successful.
They never should’ve gotten the Minivan or the Toyota Matrix twin. Death note was signed, sealed and delivered right then.
I’d even argue that there is still a market for Saturn. Cheap cars, with just the bare minimum that get great MPG, are dead reliable, with no pressure dealers… sounds a lot like Subaru and some Toyota models to me.
The article title with referencing the CT6 as being phased out serves to be a bit misleading. It mentions that the factory where the CT6 is produced is being shutdown but that production is likely to shift to the Lansing facility. Being that the CT6 is also produced in China, it still has options to stay in production.
See quote below:
“The flagship Cadillac CT6, the marque’s biggest and boldest bet on its luxury sedan heritage, is dead in North America, a victim of General Motors’ largest global restructuring since its 2009 bankruptcy. But thankfully the old bird will be going out with a bang—the recently-announced Cadillac CT6-V and its new 550-horsepower V-8 will still be offered for the final model year, the company confirmed to The Drive…..While the Cadillac CT6 will still be built and offered in China, where it remains relatively popular, the car is scheduled to end production for North America in June 2019 as GM’s Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly plant is shut down—or “unallocated,” in the press release’s Orwellian verbiage. A GM spokesperson told The Drive that the timeframe should leave the CT6 on sale “for most if not all of 2019.” But when they’re gone, they’re gone….Now it appears The Cadillac CT6-V will act as a swan song for the car, a final-year blowout to celebrate the good times. “Our commitment to launch the CT6-V with its all-new Blackwing Twin Turbo V8 engine in unchanged,” GM told The Drive.”
http://www.thedrive.com/news/25119/the-cadillac-ct6-is-dead-ct6-v-to-be-offered-as-final-year-model-for-2019
This explains the mystery of why Blackwing was announced as a special hand-built engine with each one constructed by hand by a lone craftsman at Bowling Green. It would now appear it is another part of Johan de Nysschen’s plan that is being dismantled but given that the engine was already developed, GM will do a limited run of them for the final CT6s. The engine may never be used again.
That engine will be used in tons of Cadillacs. The CT5-V, XT7-V and V-Sport, XT6-V, Escala, and the Escalade should all use it, or a variation of it. I know sedan sales are dying, but BMW, Audi, and MB/AMG don’t seem to care. GM already has the blackwing, Alpha II, 10-speed Auto, and have developed the CT4 and CT5. They might as well make use of them.
Gary,
The CT6 is dead in NA; however, in China it lives on…There will be plenty of 2019 CT6 around on dealer lots. A new lower price. I wonder why Cadillac did not have this design before hand of the 2019 CT6? Yes, I know about the Escada that they will never remotely come close to building.
There is no more Cadillac. Just as someone pointed out Chevyllacs or me Chevallacs. I am fine with either.
A new generation of Cimmaron SUV awaits us. And two lame small Chevyllacs coming soon. With the new 3 coming and a new C for 2021, as well as an updated A4, new IS, the S60 – sure those Chevyllacs/Chevallacs will fair well. Its like the 1970-through now without stopping to learn from the mistakes of the past.
MB new GLE has gotten awesome reviews. Cadillac is going tying to sell a Traverse with metal window switches? Okay. Yeah sure. Escalade while a success – Chevyllac. XT5, XT4 Chevyllacs and with the latter two it’s so evident of what they’re are based on.
The Corolla and Chevy sales maybe down but they are not going anywhere anytime soon.
I wish Chevyllac/Chevallac would be more forth coming about it’s future products everyone else is.
As shown with the stock value uptick, this move makes sense to people with business sense. It just doesn’t make sense to people here because they have car sense. GM is in the business of building cars, and needs not just investors, but also car buyers to believe in the company.
Which car guy would consider buying a car model that will be dead in a few months? Good luck finding parts to those planning on holding on the vehicle for more than just a couple of years. The decision for potential buyers on the fence to buy a GM car, or a European, or Japanese car… that decision has just been made much easier for them.
When Wall Street tanks, first there will huge rebates on trucks nobody can afford anymore, then there will be cries for a bailout because “not enough time to switch to smaller vehicle production”. We’ve heard it before.
There a lot of people on car forums that really believe cars and sometimes entire brands should just exist so they can exist, no so that they can buy one eventually, but just people who feel better because they know that a Malibu “exists”, again, not that they can or even want to buy one, maybe they wouldn’t even take it if it was free……but the car or brand merely “existing” gives them the warm and fuzzies.
Very sad news. The most perplexing thing is that the Cruze is being killed, yet the Malibu is soldiering on. Why not kill the Malibu and keep the Cruze instead? At least where I live, the only Malibus I see are rentals. I see a ton of Cruzes on the other hand, and most of the people driving them are pretty young. I’m no businessman but wouldn’t it make far more sense to keep the car that’s attracting younger buyers to the brand?
Better yet, why doesn’t GM use their head? If there are too many plants building sedans, at least consolidate them into fewer plants. Just don’t hand off the market to the competition. After all, GM was supposed to be the leader in automotive in this nation, Why not act like it?
So this means, no VSS-R based XT7/XT8. CT7/CT8?
But more fugly FWD Chevyllacs? Oh, God… Hate their proportions.
Btw, have no doubt the RWD Aviator will outclass the upcoming FWD based XT6.
They have so much money and resources, but can’t even build at least one world class brand.
GM is a joke.
So long, guys. I’m washing my hands….
LOL. I love it and GM does too
Chevyllacs! I think it will sell well!
Long live the Civic and Corolla. Bye Cruze!
As GM cuts their way to prosperity, they have in all likelihood lost me as a customer. My intention was to trade my 2017 CT6 TT Platinum for a Blackwing, not really sure whether it would’ve been a V. Needless to say, I have no interest in having the last year model and will likely look at purchasing an Audi A7 or S7.
Adios!
Pretty piss poor communication by GM and Mary Barra. They are riding high and decide to make deep cuts and offer allusions to future autonomous/electric vehicles that aren’t yet mainstream. Even if they do take off, where will they build them? … GM/Barra needs to approach the lectern and offer more details on their vision and plans. Maybe then it will all make sense. Today’s communication is only undermining customer support for GM. A damn shame.
Better yet, why doesn’t GM use their head? If there are too many plants building sedans, at least consolidate them into fewer plants. Just don’t hand off the market to the competition. After all, GM was supposed to be the leader in automotive in this nation, Why not act like it?
I Will especially miss the Chevrolet impala, RWD or FWD, that car is a legend in it’s own right.
Another reason for me to hang on to my 2007 Impala SS.
I have a ’65, had an ’11, ’14, and now a 2018… the end of an era for the Impalas again. Except I don’t think it will make a return again after they finally got it right and there were such high hopes for the SS to reappear with the HP and RWD it deserved. Since I can’t and won’t drive anything the average person can afford from foreign automakers (Motor CIty Girl) and since I cannot afford a Bentley, Lambo, or Bugatti, I will be moving over to the Dodge Charger in 3-4 years when I trade my Impala in. Dodge is the last American brand (at least 49% of it anyway) that will carry full size cars and the SRT Charger (wishful thinking for the Hellcat or Demon) now has my name all over it and a new customer coming its way. RIP Impala and to Hell with GM for this mess! I have been a GM Girl all my life and now I have to turn to Dodge… my father is flipping in his grave for sure.
I have thought the same thing when it comes time to trade I’ll do a Charger I love my V8 and my father too would freak out, I been a Chevy girl all my life.
GM is too busy trying to please their investors while writing themselves hefty bonuses (which never trickle down to blue collar) and forcing customers to buy what they want to sell instead selling what customers want!
Well they can’t force me to buy the mediocre vehicles they’re producing now. I was planning for my next truck to be a new GMC Sierra, but the more I learn about the new trucks, the more sure I am that my next truck will be either an F-150 or a Ram. Oh well.
In addition to Cadillac losing the only car they could point to in order to say they are a serious player in the luxury field, the loss of Lacrosse means Buick offers only one original product, the Enclave. Everything else is a rebadge made outside the United States , either in China, Germany, Korea, or Poland.
The German a Polish car are probably being cut eventually. I believe I read somewhere that Opel is done building the Regal after this generation. Don’t know when but it will likely die too. I’m surprised the Cascada is still on sale.