During a virtual fireside chat with media today, GM CEO Mary Barra stated that she does not anticipate any further reductions to the automaker’s internal-combustion product portfolio. Barra’s statement comes amid GM’s push to develop a swath of new all-electric vehicle products, sometimes at the cost of discontinuation for existing underperforming or unprofitable gas-powered products.
GM CEO Mary Barra
When asked by media about further reductions to the automaker’s gas-powered offerings, Barra responded by saying, “I don’t see any further reductions.”
“The team took appropriate cost-cutting actions and we’re on a good path now,” the GM CEO added.
However, it’s unclear if Barra’s statement takes into account some of the assumed future discontinuations. For example, as we reported last week, the Chevrolet Malibu’s future is uncertain, as sales have fallen off precipitously since the latest generation’s debut for the 2016 model year, and although it was originally slated to stick around until 2025, it now looks like the Malibu may be dropped outright following the 2023 model year.
The Chevrolet Sonic’s future may be uncertain.
The Chevrolet Sonic is another gas-powered model that looks to be in danger of going away, and may not live to see 2022 model year. It’s already been discontinued in Canada.
Unfortunately, the iconic Chevrolet Camaro may also may be on the chopping block, with the current Alpha-based model set for discontinuation, and no plans to develop a new model currently in sight. It’s possible that the Camaro may be redone as an electric vehicle, or a different vehicle type entirely.
The GM BEV3 platform
Over the past two years, General Motors has been aggressive in trimming down it’s gas-powered vehicles in the push to develop new all-electric vehicle technology and autonomous vehicle technology. Models that have fallen by the wayside during this time include the Chevrolet Impala, Buick LaCrosse, Chevrolet Volt, Chevrolet Cruze, and the Cadillac CT6. The entire Buick Regal lineup will also be killed off after the 2020 model year.
Note that these discontinuations are for North America only, and that the situation is different in the Chinese market.
All told, GM CEO Mary Barra may have confirmed that the automaker’s gas-powered portfolio is indeed leveling out, but where it’ll eventually level out still remains to be seen.
Comments
Jumping to electric vehicles too quickly can be a huge mistake because of cost and how quickly technology changes as there’s a new article on how nanometer hollow structures could boost battery storage in conjunction with new battery materials which could mean the savings of $Billions which could help make some of the upcoming Cadillac EV already obsolete because of the battery formulation.
Hope it all works out. There are side effects to letting existing models languish, particularly as it relates to GM’s perception as a brand lagging the competition.
It happened in the 1990s when GM developed a reputation of peddling front-drive luxury and Chevy Corsica type vehicles that were a step below the competition and well-suited for rental car lots. By the the mid 2000’s, when GM made a full scale effort to get back into the game with competitive chassis and interiors, the market perception of GM was too damaged to lure back customers and the company was engulfed by the 2008 recession.
Somehow, the mid to late 2010’s seem reminiscent of the 1990’s again where GM products are lagging, particularly pickup trucks which have fallen to 3rd rate, Cadillacs SUVs which are all derivative models and the cancellation of unique products (CT6 & Blackwing). Anyone concerned how many potential good branches they’ve pruned from this tree with an unproven EV lineup to replace them?
Sure GM is now trying to get back into the game with the new big SUVs and Corvette — and soon the EVs — but have they lost too much customer momentum once again to get back on their feet in the face of a rapidly changing world? Not to mention they have to be pretty darn good to compete with Tesla even in good times.
Like I said, hope it all works out.
N400
GM also builds pickups.
Yes, I did mention them. A disappointing product refresh — now anyone who sits inside a Ford or Ram is unlikely to buy a GM pickup.
GM sells a hell of a lot of trucks, and its sales are growing. Fseries sales are down. RAMs sitting on a large number of unsold trucks. Seems no one buys a truck just to sit in.
Why GM wants to discontinue the Camaro is beyond me. If the fat cat can be in 3rd place in sales for like 29 years I don’t see why GM feels the need to discontinue the Camaro because they slipped up with that 2019 redesign. If anything, being in 3rd place should convince chevy to make the camaro better than it already is.
Third place in a shrinking market is basically no cars being sold. At some point it cost more in R&D to keep the model going than just discontinuing it.
In EV Cameo makes a lot of sense from a performance standpoint. Just dust off the original Volt concept and make it EV only.
Kyle,
That’s simply how GM operates. They’ve been doing it for years. They aren’t going to change. GM does a half-hearted redesign of a product that they left unchanged too long. Sales continue to languish so they cancel the product entirely.
Other carmakers, like Honda for instance with the Civic, go back to the drawing board and really innovate to win back consumers. GM just doesn’t do that. Instead they issue press releases about how there isn’t a market for Car X anymore and they shut the whole thing down.
I think the current Camaro is too indistinguishable from its immediate predecessor and doesn’t elicit any of the passion it needs to sell respectably. It’s a very impractical car that lives and dies by whether it sets hearts aflutter, stirs the soul, or generates what Bob Lutz called the ‘gotta have it’ factor. The Camaro doesn’t do that like it needs to. Plus it’s based on the Cadillac Alpha platform and GM is moving Cadillac to an all-electric portfolio and Camaro can’t exist all alone.
Take heart though, the new FWD Blazer has lots of Camaro influences in its design; even the dash vents are the same.
I disagree with the current camaro doesn’t stir the soul! I took my 1LE out this weekend and I drove it for 10min and had a kid in a run down charger keep pace right next to me until I looked over and said “ is that a 1LE” with much respect given. The next stop light another guy at the bus stop giving me thumbs up and taken pictures of my car. The one thing I do agree with you is it’s very impractical. But….. but… but the number one purpose of the camaro the reason of its creation is to beat the Mustang. Not to have some practical use for all types of people like the mustang. Putting a 4 cylinder in a camaro makes as much sense as putting a 4 popper in a Lamborghini. I would like camaro to stay front engine version of the vette but it’s not selling.why not sure. I think GM would do better with a charger competitor
It’s disingenuous of GM to say they won’t be dropping any more ICE models..
They can’t AFFORD to drop any more ICE models because they won’t be able replace them with EVs.
Their new Ultium battery factory is slated to produce 35GWh by 2022. That’s enough batteries for 350k vehicles.
Those are already tapped for their announced EV lines.
Nice attempt at spin, Barra.
If she was a man, she would have been fired a long time ago. Incompetence.
I disagree. Not only did she greenlight the all new midships Corvette, she also funded development of an all new state of the art V8. That took a lot of guts with everyone chanting EV/Batteries in her ear all day.
She also greenlight VSS-R plus haven’t lost money one single quarter since she became CEO. As said before the EV push is for people who want one, it’s not for everyone just like diesel powered vehicles.
Does that mean that GM might finally give its fans a Malibu that can compete within its Segment?
There is an interesting story on the a Blackwing engine on Road and Track.
It appears that GM was all in to fix Cadillac with sedans and a SUV Omega. Then the sedan market dropped out and the expense of the Omega program was too great for a short return on investment.
So they decided if they are going to make long term investments it will be in the future products with EV.
The old GM would have just kept dumping money into projects with little return or no return. Today they are much the opposite. Today we have a more fiscally responsible GM.
It appears that the EV program has gained enough ground they have confidence they can and will make money with it.
We have not see much of the program but the hints and comments show they have brought batter cost well under the past prohibitive cost. They also look as if they have increased performance in range and possibly charging. GM has yet to show al, their cards.
Right now it will be a fine balance of ICE and EV product moving forward. Unlike old GM every brand and models will be expected to meet standards of return of investment.
In the past they built millions of cars under a dozen brands yet did not make money.
What troubled me is they did not anticipate the sedan decline sooner. But they were not the only ones to miss this.
I just hope they have it right on the EV and if they do income and stock will really take off.
But in a market with increasing cost and regulations I think the odds are in their favor.
Sometimes the way forward is a step back. GM has tried to right size for them to re enter the market to drive profits vs volume only.
When people go to purchase a new ICE vehicle in the B/C segment and can’t even consider any of the subpar offerings from GM does that improve GM stock? GM is floundering in the B/C segment right now. The Bolt is a great vehicle, but EVs simply do not make sense for everyone and the Trailblazer is woefully under-powered. Any consumer who want to spend 32k or less on an ICE vehicle shouldn’t even bother looking at GM dealerships right now, which is sad to me. That’s a huge market, just completely abandoned. Pretty much completely taken over by Japanese and Korean companies. They are more than happy to take home modest profits and gain market share. Profit is profit.
You show little clue to what is going on.
GM is not floundering. They are making money. Subpar not really more just average.
The Bolt nice little car that makes no money and few love. It creates no return on investment and does not lower development cost. The coming Hummer will be a hit and will not only deliver return on investment but profits.
These profit will help pay to lower cost for boring smaller cars like the Bolt and make it profitable.
Trailblazer under powered? Oh where did I miss it being a replacement for the Camaro? The damn thing was made for mileage and for the daily driver.
Word of reality Don’t pay sticker. Stickers at $32k go for $24k. Besides you get too cheap it gets you little anyways. The average cost of a vehicle is $35k today.
The truth is you get to the entry level cars there is little money in them for American companies. They build them here they are not cheap or profitable. You build them in Korea, China and Mexico you complain. They take cheap labor and global markets to make profits.
Toyota and Hyundai are the only players making profits. Honda is holding its own but needs help with development cost hence why they are working with GM.
VW is the only one doing the Volume game and if it works they win if not they will be a major failure.
The rest are all looking for a dance partner to share cost or to survive.
Ford is the odd one looking for help but retain half the company for family control. Time is running out with failure of stock income and lack of any real plan for the future. When you see the Mach E mule driving out of the GM proving grounds it is telling of their state of tech. The a Raptor and Bronco will not hurt them but they will not save them.
Am I happy with everything at GM no. But too often I find out the facts and figures behind them and I better understand what they are doing.
An out maker just can not do what ever they like anymore and one major failure can be fatal today. The EV move is a risk but it is a well calculated one. It has to run the mine field of future obstacles like unforeseen viruses, elections and world conflicts. But to go out and build a 400 hp Trailblazer is for sure not going to solve the future.
GM already went bankrupt building cool cars one already. Sorry they are just add on profit not main profits.
Agree with most of what you say, but tossing the whole Omega platform and associated ICE modern V8 engine in favor of EVs is very risky, given Tesla has already set a high bar for EVs.
A more cohesive strategy, IMO, would be to preserve class-leading ICE product in order to build and retain the premium customer segment and the loyalty they will need for EVs. Having premium ICE vehicles overlap with premium EV vehicles is a good marketing problem. Trying to attract a premium audience you’ve lost is a bad marketing problem.
I read the R&T article hoping to find some insights, but wasn’t terribly impressed. Reads like a bad football game where it’s on to the next game (EVs). But outcomes only change in the next game when you re-think your strategy.
If I were to purchase an EV, it would be a Tesla product.
@JOHN MAJDALANI
I totally agree with you but as a GM fan I hope and pray it will only be one Tesla for me before GM gives me something to come back for in the EV Segment.
It’s over for ICE vehicles, doesn’t matter if it takes the next twenty years. Make the next Camaro electric.
Nothing is “over” for anything! All this is doing is offering the consumer that thing called choice. Last time I checked we weren’t a Communist or Socialist state and have the freedom to choose what we want and what works for us. Making everything electric with no other choice would have damaging repercussions far and wide starting with battery companies that could simply not keep up with demand if it was there.
thank you, let the free market decide.
Well, my 2014 Convertible Camaro 2SS with +50 hp elicits plenty of passion (and thrills). The problem for GM is that the Canadians built the Gen5s so well, very few of us want or need a new one. I can afford a used Tahoe as my bad weather ride so the Camaro is used sparingly and will last the rest of my lifetime. These (Gen5s anyway) are such good cars everyone should have one. There are many, many, very well kept low mileage examples available at bargain prices.
I still have my 2010 Camaro and I’m never getting rid of it absent some catastrophe.
GM needs a New CEO
Mark Fields is available
Bob Lutz where are you please…
When GM deleted the optional V6 on most of their models, that was the death knell for me. They should take a look at how many “left the fold” commenserate with that dubious decision.
The 2.0t or 2.7t are far superior in most applications than the V6 imo.
Here we go again with the Camaro. Instead of improving it their going to dump it, just like in 02!
Mary Barra is at it again, the truth is GM can’t dump anymore because they don’t have anything to replace them with. This is the same woman who said GM was going to be more disciplined on fleet sales. GM then dumped tens of thousands of sedans onto rental lots and told shareholders that sedan sales were up. It was revealed that when Hertz went bankrupt, over twenty percent of their fleet consisted of GM products which was the highest of all manufacturers.
It’s harder than hell to get GM to build Sonics now. Might as well discontinue them….
I love Sonics, but they are antiquated tech rn. A consumer can go out and buy a Mazda3 for a couple thousand more. They’re going to get way more car. The 1.4t LUV in the Sonic is really showing it’s age, it doesn’t even have direct injection. GM is going to struggle in the next few years without a competitive B/C segment ICE vehicle.
I also love how the Sonic lost 3 highway MPG going from 2015-2016 to the current model year despite having the same identical engine and transmission in the same car! How does that happen exactly? And how can it be getting less MPG than a larger heavier Cruze which uses the same transmission? Why am I getting the feeling that ICE engine vehicles at GM are being made to look far worse than they really are, possibly to promote and boost all electrics? I’m sure as with so many things today there is an agenda hidden somewhere.
I test drove the Trailblazer. I’m sure the 9spd moves it along fine at highway speeds, but that 1.3t is a straight up turd, had absolutely no motivation. The new TB is a great platform, but the current drive train is not at all inspired. I don’t understand why they didn’t go with a 1.6t or 2.0t like almost every competitor offers in this class.
@h4cksaw
That is why the Future will be EV’s
You won’t have to settle for that little displacement Turd that you speak of. Lol
Next time you go to the airport tell them you want to fly to your destination in an EV airliner. Better bring your lunch, it may be a short delay. Future huh?
@Ted
What does that have anything to do with EV Vehicles?
Is this an Aviation website?
Or did I ever say that Oil will not be around in the Future? Not sure what point you were trying to make. Just because Vehicles will shift to Battery Tech doesn’t mean Airplanes will as well. Maybe one day the Tech gets there but that will most likely be after our lifetime. But I am sure there are people working on the Tech as we speak because Oil will one day run out and we will still have the need to fly.
I was merely pointing out how crude battery technology is at this point. Someday it may get there, but right now you are buying something thats not ready for widescale adoption. Battery cars are being shoved down our throats by a bunch of bureaucrats . Its your money.
mary barra is a real train-wreck ! The destruction of GM !
Why are sales in the toilet? There is little to rave about from anyone. We need a Mustang, a Minivan, a new something that we stand in line to buy. Electric won’t do it in my mind. Four wheels and a body, can we bring back excitement. Remember the turbine engine Indy cars, what an innovation. Lets do it again!. Tesla may be our biggest innovator for future vehicles but I hope not. I am not ready to give up on hybrids but tempt me. Show me something I must buy! Do that!
Time to get rid of Mary.
You can keep your electric vehicles, I am to old to change now.
Thing for change at the top.
Right now GM needs cash for the Cruse program. They are supposed to start production next year. I am still in favor of a hybrid Equinox with the Volt guts. Not the diesel. When a company needs innovation, they promote the innovator like Chrysler did in the past. The cheaters, VW, seem to have lots of new vehicles. I am thinking, GM is keeping their powder dry until they see the whites of the customers’ eyes.
The electric plane makes more sense since it greatly increases safety. There is an airline in western Canada that is all electric. Small float planes. Greatly reduces maintenance and fuel costs. I think GM should develop an electric group, like the Saturn that builds their own electric enhanced vehicles and cater to the customer demand. Keep the ICE group doing what they do best. Take the Equinox and make it a competitor in electrics. I looked at a Bolt and it is too expensive, it should be 1/2 that price. It cost as much as a Cadillac and it isn’t there. I will stay with my Volt until something better comes along.
I am so grateful for my all V-8 Chevy garage (Camaro, Tahoe). I’ll never go back. Mary-don’t repeat the mistake of making what you want instead of what your customer wants. That’s called bankruptcy. Remember?
The largest electric vehicle company is not Tesla but Toyota, by far. They keep expanding the use of electric across their product lines. Dropping the hybrid, I think was a mistake. Ford is trying to follow Toyota but is far behind. I could see Tesla buying GMC and dividing it into a truck, sports car, and passenger vehicle company. Selling most of the dealership concept and breathing some air into the industry. The GM stock has been ow and Ford has been mostly talk and no dynamics yet. A bright spot as I see it: I parked beside a new BMW 500 series sedan and the driver looks at my 2019 Volt Premier and says WOW! How about that. Actually the Volt Premier, takes a back seat to no one. The BMW plug-in looks a little wierd, not at all stylish like Volt. They should have made (3) model Volts. One with ICE, one with hybrid, and a plug-in model. The plug-in could have three operating states and made it more of an all round transportation vehicle. Then followed with the Equinox.