GM CEO Mary Barra Says Customers ‘Aren’t Interested’ In Hybrids
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General Motors CEO Mary Barra spoke at a conference hosted by British investment bank Barclays in New York this week, where she addressed a number of pertinent topics, including GM’s forthcoming new fully electric pickup truck and the automaker’s future strategy for electrified vehicles.
GM has already said that it is abandoning hybrids altogether, instead choosing to focus its electrified vehicle efforts entirely on full EVs. Barra elaborated on the topic when speaking in New York this week, though, saying that “customers aren’t interested in hybrids,” based on its findings. GM also sees hybrids as a stop-gap to fully electric vehicles – so instead of investing in the stepping stone, GM wants to puts its money toward the solution.
Not all automakers think this way, though. Electric vehicles are more expensive than hybrids and conventional gas or diesel vehicles, so some companies are hesitant to go all-in on a vehicle type that is bound to have a high price tag, limited demand and limited profit margins. Toyota, for example, isn’t going all-in on EVs and remains confident that cars like the Prius, Prius Prime, Corolla Hybrid and RAV4 Hybrid can put up strong sales numbers and deliver decent margins while also helping to reduce fuel consumption and vehicle emissions.
GM admits that EVs won’t be making a ton of profit for the company at first. The company’s Chief Financial Officer, Dhivya Suryadevara, also spoke at the Barclays conference this week and told investors in attendance that its early electric vehicles, like the forthcoming electric pickup truck, will be “margin dilutive.” Even when they do make money, they won’t be as profit-heavy as conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, she said.
GM discontinued the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid early this year and currently has no hybrid vehicles in its portfolio. The automaker is making major investments in electric vehicles, however, with plans to launch a fully electric pickup truck by fall 2021. It is also expected to launch the new Chevrolet Bolt EUV crossover sometime next year, which will compete with electric crossovers like the Hyundai Kona Electric and Kia Niro EV. It will also enter the luxury electric vehicle marketplace with a new Cadillac EV crossover, which it showed a design sketch of earlier this year.
GM seems to be covering lots of segments with its various upcoming electric vehicles, but it remains to be seen if it will be able to convert buyers of internal combustion vehicles over to electric, or if it will be able to attract those who have already made the switch away from Tesla.
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I would be more intrested in a hybrid than ev,
Not enough charging stations across the continent,
Imho
I agree with you Scott. I just purchased a 2019 Malibu Premier. I was originally dead set on buying the hybrid trim, however, none of the dealerships in my area had any available to test drive. I wasn’t going to purchase a car that I could not drive first. Not only that, but the Hybrid trim level on the Malibu does not offer Adaptive Cruise Control, or the Bose Sounds System; two things I wanted for my new car. I will say I am more than happy with my purchase and 33mph average more than acceptable for a 250hp turbo engine.
NASA can bring back the all electric moon rover. Aka moon buggy ?
I believe it was all solar….
Brandan, I fully understand your frustration with trying to buy a hybrid from GM; luckily when I went to buy my Volt they had one on the lot (probably the only dealer in town with any) so I did get a test drive which sold me on the Volt. Your report of lack of dealer interest in these hybrid cars has been repeated many times on this blog, again indicating GM’s total lack of interest in properly marketing them. Why, Mary, why?
Charging stations are not the issue, since every home has 120 VAC and 240 VAC outlets that can charge any EV or plug-in hybrid. The average trip is 30 miles, yet all manufactured EVs cover that easily. And the great majority of EV owners are intelligent and practice safe driving below the battery range, so there are no “EV out of energy” news at all, yet thousands run out of gas every day! Who is more foolish here?
Dealership should have charging stations available 24/7 to EV/Hybrid plug in. Owners. Most dealership are damn close to each other if that’s what this world is coming to in order to travel farther than grocery get and work..
Just another idea ???
Instead of park and rides lots, have some with charging station that are somewhat secure. Make them ride share veh. Aka vanpool.
Do you people know the carbon trail it take to make electricity, let alone the damn batteries,
Have a great holiday season !!! I don’t do ho ho ho …
Ok I’ll race you from New York to Cali. I’ll drive my 2009 Malibu V6. You pick whatever EV you want. See you next month.
Careful, Scott ZL1 might choose a Volt EREV and you would have a real race on your hands.
@Suzy Q
That’s a revolting thought, lol
Just race GVD in my ZL1 and ???
See who gets the checkered flag and sprays the champagne on who…
Have a good day ???
Range is an issue. Yesterday we drove our Volt on a 314 mile trip. Not a single fast charger along our route here in Florida. Of course the Volt. Cant use a dc fast charger but had I bought the Bolt I was looking at, I could have been out of luck. Yes, I charge my Volt at home but taking an extended trip with a BEV requires DC fast chargers and they simply don’t exist in sufficient numbers to fill the void. California, yes, Florida, no way BTW,averaged 54.2 combined mpg on this trip
@John: Range is THE issue. We have taken our Volt on three cross country road trips for a total of about 10K miles on gas out of a total of about 26K miles. As we took those trips we made a point of looking for any convenient Fast Charger stations; we came across only one Tesla station. We would have been totally out of luck with a Bolt or other BEV; even if we had gone out of our way to find a Fast Charger, the still long charge times would have severely impacted our travels. If you want an around town vehicle, we go literally months without putting gas in our Volt, saves us over $100/month over our previous ICE vehicle, taking account of increased electric bill. Even including the long road trips, our lifetime average fuel economy is 56.7 mpg.
Besides, we view the Volt as the best car we have ever owned, considering its comfort, handling, economy, and all around drive-ability. Why would GM purposely kill such a outstanding product without even trying to sell it? And don’t give me the BS that Voltec was not profitable, there was never any real attempt to make it profitable.
For an EV, a 120v wall plug is out of the question, unless you don’t drive very far or have a really long time to wait.
Hybrids? Gas mileage is not a big issue with anyone. Gas is cheap and probably will stay that way for the foreseeable future. Same equation applies to small cars and, to a lesser degree, sedans. As for betting on EVs, I believe GM is going to rue that decision – Mary Barra will take her golden parachute and be gone by that time, but the company will pay dearly. The climate change mafia has sold her and others like her a bill of goods. Despite massive efforts to suppress it, it is becoming clear that anthropomorphic warming is baloney. It isn’t about “saving the planet”, it is about control. The two tenths of a degree or whatever estimate even the strongest advocates of carbon dioxide suppression can come up with is trivial. In fact, the advocates can’t even demonstrate whether whatever warming is going is good or bad. Ms. Barra is correct in one thing though. EVs won’t be ubiquitous unless they are mandated by governments. Cars are about freedom and governments don’t like that so the possibility exists that EVs will be mandated. Ms. Barra advocates that.
I purchased a 2018 volt, which I am very pleased with the gas mileage and performance. I think doing away with the hybrid is a big mistake. Here are my reasons, 1.) I do not want to have to stop at a charging and wait 20-30 minutes for a partial charge. 2.) My hybrid, I fill up the 9 gallon tank and I am good for another 300+ miles in a matter of 5-8 minutes. 3.) Hybrids get excellent fuel economy because the engine is charging the battery and not driving the rear wheels technically.
What GM needs to do is tweak the volts technology and put it in a hybrid SUV. This is what would drive sales!!
I agree 100%. Mary will never hear the voice of the consumer
She is shelter from reality,
She still is driven around in a gas guzzler Denali limo or rides a broom then once she gets home how many GM’s EV’s she drive on her own time??? I don’t think so.
My next stop for me winners circle ???
Look, GM can’t just build shit that loses money, regardless of how much somebody may have liked that product or not.
If anyone is sheltering themselves from reality, it’s all the people on this forum going on and on about money losing products that GM quit building.
I’m torn on this. I under stand the change but they need to keep ICE vehicles too. However GM does have a large network of dealers so they could easy create charging stations at these dealers and maybe that might be part of the plan. If so that would make it easier for someone to take car or truck on vacation.
True and False .
Reason :
Product : people wont be interested in a Malibu hybrid when there is Volt (Its just a confusion for the people ) . The right way would be Only Malibu exist with Malibu hybrid and Malibu Voltec. Again its CUV boom, what people look for is CUV hybrids or Voltec or Evs ( so it would have been better on equnox/traverse and e-awd – people mover hybrids )
Price : the premium on a hybrid power train matters. Toyota charges only near $1000 premium on a hybrid power train.
Promotion : I am not sure how many people are even aware there is hybrid offering from GM
Perception : Elon musk can sell Model 3 or Cyber truck , GM don’t have the perception/image of a tech/quality/reliability/safety forerunner. It takes a lot forward looking bets than safe bets to achieve those.
Lincoln charges (pun intended) the same price for its gas only and hybrid vehicles. Ford just charges a bit more. This is why Ford sells more hybrids in the U.S. than Toyota. And Ford will offer several more hybrids for 2020, including their three best selling vehicles (F-150, Explorer, and Escape). Ford does it better!
i’m not interested in a $38K chevy bolt. that is for damn sure.
That’s the problem with electric cars currently. With the battery costing as much as the rest of vehicle, you’d be better off selling a luxury car.
A Bolt is a $19k economy car with a $19k battery.
I work in a European car dealership here in Australia. I have just done a Warranty claim on a hybrid version of their top of the range saloon still on the showroom floor (23km’s). Warranty price for the failed battery $37,500 AU!! Retail’s probably 15-20% higher. How many people will be able to afford a repair when the car’s warranty expires? Or will battery warranty be extended? And our Gov’t make squillions out of fuel excise. There’s talk they’ll put a huge tax on EV’s to make up for the loss in the future. All things considered, sort of takes the economics out of owning one I reckon.
@Anthony: Since you didn’t name the car or the hybrid technology/battery size involved it’s hard to evaluate your comment. I have heard that a installing a reasonable size battery like in the Volt are in the significantly less than 10k US$ range but it is just anecdotal evidence (seems to be a lot of confusion on this point, a lot of it generated by GM itself)?!?
But, points out another Volt advantage, as far as I know, if your battery begins to die you can still keep driving on the ICE engine?
@steve It’s not $38k. GM heavily discounts it. You can get at least $6 GM cash before negotiating with the dealer (you can see the GM discounts straight from the GM website). Right now 2019s are flying out the door around $29k taxes included after dealer negotiations.
$38k is a ridiculous price. For $39490, you be much better off buying a Model 3 Standard Range Plus. With that competition, GM has no choice but to massively discount.
Expensive golf cart.
I disagree with her assessment of the current market. In the future, maybe all electric but for now not yet. I believe the biggest problem she had/has is that GM utilized its hybrid power train (voltec) on just a compact car. The market wants suv’s and crossovers. Had voltec been used in an Equinox, or similar, it would have done much better.
Further, I believe on the big suv’s it could really help. Nothing like the previous Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade Hybrid models but a plug-in style. Something like a voltec XL. I would be interested in a plug-in hybrid Tahoe which gives me a shorter electric range for daily around town commuting and the 5.3L/6.2L/3.0L for long distance and high power (towing) usage.
I do take the family on trips to a country house with a night out included and back home the next day. This round trip 500+ miles and a high capacity charging station is not an option overnight. So range anxiety is a factor in my weighing of ice vs electric vehicle. Perhaps when I can recharge my battery in the same amount of time as it takes to fill my tank with gas at a location as easily accessible as a gas station on my route I will consider making the switch.
Yes – That is the point that i will support. The recharge time is horrible – I routinely make weekend trips of 200 to 500 miles round trip. I cannot go there and park for “Hours” to wait for the battery to recharge…
Even if you get to your destination, you cannot go sight seeing and enjoy the local venues because the batteries will be dead until tomorrow!!!
I am in Atlanta – If I go to Florida, it would take me probably 3 or 4 days to get to Miami!!! Gas gets me there in a day and a half or 2 days. Please don’t take me back to the “Horse and Buggy” days – time wise.
Hybrid cars will make So Much more sense than the electric only cars – unless they can come up with some significant improvements in technology..
I think that’s a bit of a false statement. I mean there’s a reason why Ford, Honda and Toyota have hybrid versions of the compact crossovers. Toyota is well known for hybrids for sure and ford has done it for some time. But then they do advertise the crap out of their hybrids system. Honda would probably do just fine if they advertise it just as well as the other two. I don’t think GM hybrid system was well-known especially in the Malibu just because not a lot of people knew that Malibu has a hybrid and the volt when it came out at the time it was definitely very controversial as well. I do wish they could’ve put it in like a equinox sized crossover though. I do think that’s their missed mark for sure. But I Understand it might’ve drive up the cost of it.
Mary Barra is either lying or someone is feeding bad information, you look at almost every Toyota on the street and you see the little sticker that says Hybrid on it whether it’s a CUV or Camry, it says Hybrid meaning their CAFE numbers are much higher and they’re doing this without electric or diesel.
Omegatalon
Prius sales peaked 6 years ago at 235,000. This year Toyota is on track to sell 65,000, and 25,000 of those are the Plug-in PriusPrime
Toyota has been pushing its RAV4 Hybrid, but It’s sales will probably fall off a cliff once more fully Electric crossovers become available.
Hybrids are partially electric. That’s what a hybrid means!
@mike
Wrong… it’s a veh that combines 2 different fuel sources such as gas/propane or gas/ethanol. And even gas and electricity !!! Look it up.
A locomotive is a hybrid diesel/electric . Etc. Train might need a lot of batteries
Lol
@Scott ZL1: True, but I would think that the typical diesel electric locomotive (without a pantograph) would be more of a EREV with zero battery range, sort of like a Volt with a dead and unrechargeable battery? The locomotive is more like a diesel prime mover with an electric (generator-motor) transmission? But, I could be wrong, do diesel electric locomotives have any significant electrical energy storage?
@Suzy
Wow you’re correct and very smart ! I appreciate that.
Enjoy what’s left of the weekend. ???
@Scott ZL1 Thanks for what I assume was a sincere compliment. You know that I am a Volt proponent; your thread made me realize I had sort of missed highlighting an important advantage of the Voltec technology. The ICE generator/motor architecture is analogous to the design of diesel-electric locomotives for the reason that leads to one not often mentioned advantage that Volt owners instinctively love. Namely the large low end electric torque and the easy control and smooth transition of power through its “electric” transmission account for the outstanding drivability of the Volt; sometimes referred to as the “joy of driving electric”. Essentially this and the prime mover running at peak efficiency are why locomotives and other large vehicles are designed this way. I can only assume that the GM engineers understood this which is why they produced such an outstanding product.
Nice comment. As I tell people, driving my volt seems like driving an adult version of a slot car, step on the accelerator and zip your off. What I just don’t understand is that the auto industry is saying that SUV are what people want, which I agree. If they can make electric diesel trains how come GM does not pursue a volt version SUV? Before I bought the volt, I was looking at the Hybrid Highlander. I said I would hold out for GM…might be longer than I thought. Hope I do not have to change my loyalty.
Modern locomotives are all electric. They just carry a huge diesel engine to produce the electricity to power them.
@Stephen Mann: Doesn’t that make them an Extended Range Electric Vehicle or an EREV as I said, like the Volt with a dead battery? They are not “all electric” like we refer to BEVs, unless they do have a pantograph and get their electric power from overhead lines.
I wonder if they are planning on building ICE trucks at DHAM as well? I would not be surprised considering the low profit margins they expect with the electric trucks and the $3 billion investment in the plant.
Regarding the Malibu hybrid, Bolt, and Volt, Miss Barra: people will not by what they don’t even know exist. Have you tried promoting these vehicles in some manner?
Gentle, No she never did; my guess she never understood the advantages of the Voltec technology, even if she was supposedly educated as an engineer?
That was the point of my comment above. Chevrolet was never interested in marketing or selling the Volt.
Barra is as clueless as ever. Zero interest in a Bolt or pricey electric only truck. They had something good going with the Volt and Malibu and simply threw it away along with the development money to make this tech.
You’re right until batteries make their next leap forward. She may know stuff we don’t.
Joe Yoman
The Volt was a small car. Built at a time when batteries were expensive. The 2 powertrains made it expensive to build, and limited space.
Cargo space also limited the success of the Malibu Hybrid. 12 cu.ft. compared to 16 cu.ft in Regular Malibu.
Wouldn’t you sacrifice some trunk space to get more than double the MPG rate? I have a 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid. Its battery takes up one third of the trunk, yet I have NEVER needed more trunk space. Go and visit a Ford dealer and compare the Hybrid trunk space for yourself. Than get surprised when you drive and reach 54 MPG. The trunk loss is well compensated again gasoline savings.
Raymond Ramirez
I use my trunk. For things like Child strollers, Golf clubs, luggage. 16cu. ft. Is the minimum size I could make work.
Peter, I guess I sort of agree on the battery cost for now, but the Volt was entirely useful with a much smaller battery than the average BEV due to lack of range anxiety. Also, I wonder if the Voltec electro-mechanical power train itself was really that much more expensive than 10 speed automatic transmissions and turbochargers, etc, used to try to get decent performance and fuel economy out of an ICE vehicle. Was the real cost problem lack of production volume due to lack of effective marketing?
Cargo space problem (which never bothered me in my Volt) could have been overcome by moving Voltec to CUV and other type vehicles. But, all would have required decent marketing to succeed.
Sorry but your research is wrong….and your history has proven your research is wrong. Investing billions when you are still unable to even market some of your best products is a gamble that you can’t afford to loose.
Should have spread Ed the Volt drive train system across the entire GM line.
No, they should have taken the lessons learned from the Volt and expanded it across the line. The Cadillac CT6 should have had a 400+ HP version of the Volt powertrain. Instead, out was underpowered and overpriced (like the ELR which might have sold with the CT6’s 335HP powertrain).
GM doesn’t get that hybrids and EVs don’t have to be about fuel economy… They can also be about getting to use the HOV lane in a car you enjoy driving. That’s why Elon is going to be able to sell every one of those ugly trucks he makes.
Pretty much what I said. I said the Volt powertrain system. Didn’t specify power output or price. I agree with you that the ELR was both underpowered and overpriced. It was a stunning vehicle and quite possibly a sales success if it had been properly powered and priced.
no one is interested in their hybrids because other than the Volt, no one knew they had any. The Malibu Hybrid got great mpg’s, but goofy option combinations and zero publicity were the real reasons no one bought it.
The Malibu hybrid would have been perfect for me, but there wasn’t one anywhere in my state to buy, let alone test drive.
I guess Michigan is just too small of a place to bother with.
Toyota just revealed the new RAV4 Prime Hybrid at the LA auto show. Extra wheel motor at the rear.
0-60 in 5.5 seconds 302 combined hp. Can run on all electric for 30+ miles. Combined mileage is 50-90mpg.
I can’t see how GM would not consider hybrid for at least the power boost benefits alone.
I believe they will still offer something for certain vehicles.
The interim hybrids can still be around for many years.
Hybrids are junk. I bought a 2019 Honda Insight Hybrid and a 2019 Tesla Model 3 this year. I can’t wait for the model Y to come out and I can trade in the Insight. Hybrids are poor ice cars and poor electric cars. They compromise too much on both sides and have horrendous complexity of two drivetrain systems.
The Bolt on the other hand is past it’s prime much like the Leaf. It was advanced for it’s time… 2016… But then came the Model 3 and the Kona/Niro. Kona/Niro sell at or above MSRP and Bolt sells $6k below MSRP because no one wants this uncomfortable, cheap, low tech electric car with no charging support.
GM has is right by getting rid of hybrids, Focusing on ICE and EV. Develop nthe next Bolt and gain some of that next market share back. I can’t wait to get rid of my hybrid.
It is amazing how the raft of people here commenting, haven’t the faintest idea of what they are talking about. The lack of knowledge of the EV world, both Hybrid and BEV is astounding. Buying a new car is a $30,000++ decision. Get educated before buying another car. Don’t believe the dealer…cruise the Internet for EV info.
Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) are the future. Gasoline engined vehicles will be all but phased out in the next 15 years.
Bottom line: companies that succeed will give customers what they want- period. In this case it is ECE, electric, hybrid, or even fuel cells. If GM had the market share it had in the 1960s, perhaps they could get away with just offering electric. Unfortunately, GM no longer has the market clout it did to dictate what people will buy one way or another.
Bolt in 2020 259 miles of range before 220 238 miles. Plenty of range there. i get right at 70 miles EV with my Volt in Florida. Which does great for everyday driving. I never switch to the gas generator in our daily driving. Used it Friday for a 314 mile trip. Still have about a half tank of gas so I wont likely buy gas for another month or two. The issue is DC fast chargers for pure EVs. Non Tesla fast chargers are scarce here so far. More fast charging infrastructure is needed to boost EV sales
If done properly and promoted I would wager more people would be interested in hybrids than an all electric vehicles. Here again I think it all about profit per vehicle. They most likely made less profit per hybrid than on a regular ICE vehicle. That is why I don’t understand her obsession with all electric vehicle’s which at this time give them no profits,so much so that she is neglecting the mainstream ICE vehicle and causing them to lose sales because they are uncompetitive.
Ok, I am a Bowtie guy from birth. First car a 55 Chevy 210, many in between, and now a super nice 2500 HD Duramax. I’m an old guy with multiple 67 Chevelles so a genuine hotrodder and car lover. But I am a realist as well. I should be parallel with GM’s decision to abandon sedans and hybrids but logic, and more likely my lack of intelligence just wont let those lines stay together. I just purchased a Honda Accord EXL Hybrid that thus far, can only be described as “impressive”. Using a battery to supplement a gas or Diesel engine likely will not ring a bell for you until your pocketbook is singing with glee as you seamlessly are achieving 45+ MPG in almost all types of driving conditions. It works. I wanted it and I bought it and now have the best of all worlds – a fine truck to do the hard and heavy with and nice ride that lets me smile and wave at gas stations as I drive by. I hope that GM has not lost track of what we really want. I want power and efficiency. I do not want to be limited in the distance I can go or an extension cord. Maybe it’s just me.