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GM May Have Canceled Next-Generation Chevy Express, GMC Savana Vans

The Chevy Express and GMC Savana full-size vans are positively ancient by automotive standards, with the current generation launching for the 1996 model year and refreshed for the 2003 model year. It was previously rumored that GM is cooking up next-generation, all-electric or ICE variants for both nameplates, set to drop for 2026. Now, however, a new report indicates that those plans may have been cancelled.

The current Chevy Express van and GMC Savana van were previously expected to receive a new generation around 2026, but now, those plans may have changed.

According to Autoweek, GM has canceled plans to replace the current ICE-based Chevy Express and GMC Savana with new all-electric variants around the 2026 timeframe. According to an unnamed source, the next-gen vans were originally to be based on the BrightDrop electric delivery van platform. Now, however, it’s unclear if GM will continue to extend the life of the current ICE-based Chevy Express and GMC Savana.

Early last year, GM Authority exclusively reported that GM planned to overhaul the Chevy Express for the 2027 model year. At the time, it was believed that the next-gen vans would once again equip an internal-combustion engine.

The recent Autoweek report also indicates that GM has canceled plans to launch a new all-electric pickup model roughly the same size as the Ford Maverick. In addition, the automaker is now rushing to bring new PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) variants of the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra to market in North America.

GM recently shifted its EV strategy, announcing plans to reintroduce PHEV models to its North American portfolio. The company previously planned to leapfrog hybrid models in favor of transitioning straight to EVs. Now, however, GM says it will “[deploy] plug-in technology in strategic segments,” per GM CEO, Mary Barra. GM still plans to transition its light-duty vehicle lineup to zero tailpipe emissions by 2035, but will add PHEV models to the lineup in order to “comply with the more stringent fuel economy and tailpipe emission standards that are being proposed.”

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Jonathan is an automotive journalist based out of Southern California. He loves anything and everything on four wheels.

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Comments

  1. The smartest move, as I have been saying, would be to set the Brightdrop body on an ICE Silverado chassis. They could offer the short body as 1/2 ton and the long body as HD. This would be extremely efficient and make lots of money for GM since all of the major components already exist. They could be put into production very quickly and easily and offer multiple variants. Open your eyes Mary, this is called low hanging fruit!

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  2. Yup, there would also be a huge after-upfit market for RV usage!

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  3. If GM brass can’t figure this out, new leadership is needed!

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  4. Any replacement for these needs to be PHEV.

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  5. Long live the gmt600/610. Keep it going, that VW bug record is in sight.

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  6. The next generation will be an all new design with the TurboMax as the standard engine and the 3.0 Duramax as an option. You’ve read it here. Book it.

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  7. For crying out loud !! Just build the damn van everyone had been trying to get their hands on!! It’s not rocket science!!! Morons!!!

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    1. Can’t build it if you can’t get underbody’s. The plant that makes em burnt down

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  8. Keep throwing 2.7 TURD-HOLE engines in vehicles. Look at all the half tons lingering in inventory with that engine

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  9. Not a dam thing wrong with the present vans. I have a 2022 and can’t think of anything that would be better. Leave it alone – It has no competition

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    1. Yes the van is successful but choosing complacency over new thinking is not so much a good look for gm either, the design has been around since the 1990’s, time to change things up.

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    2. Yes I have a 2008 Express passenger, great van, just add a better interior, leather would be nice.

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  10. Ok, let me think about this.
    GM can’t even come close to building enough Express and Savana Vans to keep up with the demand. The tooling has to have been paid for years ago. They have raised the price around $10,000 over the last couple of years due to price increases, and reduction of incentives for the large users of these vans.
    So, the brilliant idea is to stop making these, and replace them with something that will be more expensive and that nobody wants and will languish on the lots like the other electric vehicles they are building. GM management has once again shown that logic is not applicable to General Motors.

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    1. They can’t make enough because it’s an incredibly antiquated facility, by modern automotive standards. Ford outsells them 2:1 (considering Express and Savana to be the same model). Ram slots between the two. The low floor European van design is increasingly popular, the more people are exposed to it. Believe me, I sell GMCs commercially. Most tradespeople I talk to won’t consider the Savana anymore. Won’t consider a GM until they produce a better van for their needs. It’s the rare exception who cares about the higher towing capacity of the Savana. I have six Savanas on order, to be produced soon, and I haven’t found anyone to take them yet. Meanwhile used Transits have sold before they even reach our lot (we buy them at auction), sight unseen, for the same or more than a new Savana.

      Yeah, I literally make more as a commercial GMC dealer by selling used Transits than I do new Savanas, despite a lot of competition at the auctions. One I sold this week was just 3k less than a brand new Transit, and it has 26k miles! It’s not that demand for Savanas is so great, it’s that demand for vans is so great as more people realize that pickups are stupid for use in the trades. Don’t confuse that with people clamoring for GM vans specifically. It’s ancient, it’s small, it’s only available RWD (without aftermarket modification), and it doesn’t have any modern technology which many businesses quite appreciate (Apple CarPlay, for instance, or surround vision cameras, both of which greatly assist drivers of commercial vehicles).

      Where in the world do you get the idea that nobody wants a new van from GM? That is absolutely brain dead. Just because you don’t want it doesn’t mean no one does. Even people right in the comments on this article who like it talk about upgrades they want, including making it taller. All I can conclude is willful ignorance. SMDH.

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      1. How do you figure Wentzville is antiquated?

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      2. You say you have “6” on order ready to be built , with NOBODY lining up to purchase them ? Am I misreading ? If that’s the case you must have a dealership on the moon ! Read the comments, EVERYBODY wants one ! Where the hell are you located ?

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      3. Spot on, GM never got any consideration when we replaced our entire fleet of trucks because they don’t have a modern van. Ford & Ram just had too many durability/quality engines so we went all Nissan. Sitting here at 143K on my truck & the only thing we’ve had to do to any of them is when one ran out of fuel & had to replace the fuel pump. If GM wants to get taken seriously by the trades, they’ve gotta get a modern van. Hopefully the Zevo 400 will start being available for smaller fleets soon, we are interested but gotta see if the math works out to justify the likely cost premium.

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      4. If any of those vans you have on order are 6.6 powered swb passenger models, call me. I’ll buy it!

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      5. I love these vans and have one – it fits my needs – but why a tradesman would buy one I can’t imagine.

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        1. It depends on the trade.

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          1. True, if you don’t use your truck as a mobile workshop, then the GM vans very well might make good sense. As a locksmith, I’m in my truck working several times each day & the higher roofs of their competitors just make that WAY easier

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      6. Electrician here, and this is spot on.
        My fleet has two Express Vans, and two high roof Promasters.
        While the express vans are very reliable, and absolute workhorses. I won’t even consider anything without a high roof moving forward, they are far more comfortable to work out of.
        The ones I have I’ll keep around for sales and parts delivery, but, I wouldn’t buy them for that. I’d buy one of the compact vans or pickups, if I were buying for that role.

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    2. I worked at that plant and the reason is because of the old body shop equipment. Some of the original equipment is still there and it breaks all the time. The production line in the body shop is a lot slower also and there’s a lot of components that are also hand welded. The next generation van models will start getting built and tested in January of 2025. No plan for EV is what I’ve heard. Pilot vehicles will be produced Jan 20th after getting new
      body shop upgrades and some paint department upgrades.

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  11. The current ones fill a hole in the market that was left when Dodge and Ford left. There is no competition and they are selling every one they can make.

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  12. Other than lower body rust, rusty brake lines and of course the transmissions which will usually make it to 250k, these cockroaches are now the most reliable American made vehicles you can buy. Keep the NON afm engines, offer the great inline 6 diesle and put a taller body on it so we don’t have to crawl inside and call it a day. As a contractor I would be the first in line.

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    1. Cockroaches. Perfect analogy.

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    2. As a GM tech, the 2.7 Turbo is far and away more reliable than the inline 6. Among the current 1500 engines, reliability-wise it’s 2.7T, non-AFM 5.3, AFM 5.3, 3.0 I6, 6.2L. For lighter duty uses (UHaul, delivery, etc…) the 2.7L would make most sense if it can be made to fit.

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      1. That I4 is cheaply made crap to punish you for not going EV. If it were a I6 they wouldn’t have to add rotating mass in a balancer to keep it from shaking apart. They gave it forged internals, but just like on the LUV engine they nerfed the piston rings and management of internal crank case pressure. They put core effort into making it die unnaturally fast. the 5.3L with no AFM/DOD should be standard and a 7L should be the option.

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  13. Now that Brightdrop has been folded into GM, it no longer made sense to have Chevy and GMC keep offering commercial livery vans when you can allow your new purpose-built commercial-only brand offer a variety of different models under one roof.

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    1. That has been said but be sure to offer ICE versions.

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  14. They have Brightdrop EV vans, which they cannot produce because of the fiasco that is Ultium battery production, so why make another van you cannot produce?

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  15. Does anybody know if any other vehicle on sale still uses a traditional radio and has no touch screen of any kind?

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  16. lol where are those naysayers that shunned us for speaking fact instead of kissing GM ass, I’ve noticed a few users in the comment section have been absent of late. Free thought and common sense goes a lot further than blind brand loyalty lol; following them around in every direction like a windsock

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  17. GM “where we build what the government and lobbyists tell us to regardless of what makes money, sense, or a happy customer.”
    The saying lives on, Once GM perfects it, they will stop making it.

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    1. 3/4-ton Suburban is a prime example! Folks are going crazy over 20-25 year old Suburbans with 2-300,000 miles on them. If ever there was a demand, there it is, GM should be noticing that trend.

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      1. Yes, a 2500 Suburban with a 6.6 DuraMax. The Ultimate hauler.

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  18. Crazy Mary

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  19. I agree this vehicle fills a niche. And it is almost impossible to find a new one and there is a 6-9 month wait if you order one. I just recently moved to a 2500 Express with the Quigley 4×4 conversion. Some things were a step backwards compared to my 2015 Silverado. Since GM doesn’t make a 3/4-ton SUV capable of hauling 6 to 8 adults with interior storage and a 10k towing rating, the van is the answer for me. I would like to see it modernized a bit and some added creature comforts such as better insulation in the passenger model. Upgraded factory radio system to patch into your phone would be really nice. And of course, factory 4×4 would be sweet! I don’t want to see another $75-90K vehicle out there, there are enough of them already.
    I will be following this thread. Some of us want/need a HD vehicle with certain capabilities and not all the fluff.
    Look at the Sprinters and the Mercedes models with the 4×4, they are super popular right now.

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  20. This vehicle will end up with the 2.7 as the only engine option if it stays rwd. It should go fwd/awd, be loosely based off of the Traverse chassis, and use the 2.5/8speed combo.

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  21. Do any of you realize that the automotive industry is the most regualr industry in the world? Its sad, if the government would let them make what they want we would have more choices. I think they are going to upgrade this vehicles still and should. If the administratrion changes and we can pull the EPA back we can just say car manufacturers make the cars that people want and will buy. Make ICE and EV and let the market decide. They can make money on both because most EV’s are sold to those that have disposable income. So ICE for business people, business and those who like gas engines and EV’s for those that want to feel good about themselves.

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  22. Right before I retired, my company pickup was a 2023 Silverado 2.7 Turbo 8-speed automatic. When I first saw the 2.7 as teh base engine in Silverados, I laughed and thought “What were they thinking?” The current version is the high-output with 310 horsepower and 430 lbs/ft torque. Unlike the old 396 4bbls of similar power (or the Chrysler 383 4bbls and Ford 390 4bbls), the Turbo 2.7L has a flat torque curve starting at 1500rpm. Think about that 400lbs/ft torque at 1500rpm, that’s “diesel” territory! I never did “see what it’d do” but I came to be of the orientation that I could own one, but with a PosiTrac. Better fuel economy than any 4.3 V-6 or 4.8 V-8 I’ve driven. So, as for performance, it’s proven as it’s been in production for many years already. I could detect about a .5 second time from initial throttle until boost happened, and the right rear tire wanted to make noise. Never had a 5.3L do that, as easily, as to “tire sounds”. I would challenge naysayers to jump in one and drive it, THEN say “It won’t work”!

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  23. As to the G-Vans needing some love, yes they do. They might be reliable and all of that, but they handle horrendously bad, ride mediocre, and are noisy inside. I spent several years with box-van versions and they all depended upon the box for chassis rigidity, which might be a part of “the breed”, but that also impacted how the lh frt door shut, too. As noisy as a normal van we had in the fleet was, it was like driving a Cadillac in comparison to the box van. I suspect that Ford’s big Transit is better, too. As GM is not building radios, get Alpine to adapt one of their DIN or Double DIN radios so a backup camera can be involved in the mix, too. Plus OnStar and SiriusXM radio too. THEN start licensing up-fitters just like was done in the 1980s for “custom van” conversions (yes, I was around for that stuff, too).

    We didn’t sell many, but the few 3/4T Suburbans I saw were real War Horses, with the 454s and all, in the 1990s. Great vehicles for off-road and pulling a trailer, although most have transitioned into 5th-wheel big trailers. A 5th wheel which the Suburban can’t pull.

    Yep, show the old G-van some modern things and SCOOP the market!

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  24. Give the buyer a choice of plug in or just a hybrid as Toyota is doing. An ICE hybrid is a great combination for the everyday buyer.

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  25. A very good reliable standard basic van that has virtually NOTHING wrong with it and has proven itself over decades of near total reliability is being thrown out the door and then you wonder why these companies always go bankrupt.

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    1. You are 50% wrong. Yes, it is a great vehicle just the way it is. But, GM declared bankruptcy ONCE, and that was caused by the George w. Bush administration, as well as financial problems for
      Chrysler and Ford. After the 9/11 disaster, the Bush administration went to the Detroit to get them to put together a Keep America Rolling campaign that would keep this Country’s economy from collapsing. Unfortunately, this caused each company to dig themselves a hole that they couldn’t get out of. The only thing that saved Ford from bankruptcy was the family cash reserves. Inspite of that, Ford had a long road to return to profitability.
      That is actually what happened, but people’s B.S. stories keep the truth buried.

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  26. Currently have a 2006 Express and love it..the design is perfect for what we do (construction) with a lot of power…I only wish that it had AWD. The above comments only reenforces the utility of the vehicle.

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  27. I’m considering purchasing a GMC 3500 extended 6.6L (403 CID) as I tow nearly 10k lbs along with Dog crates. The 4.3L will not do for me. I wished the Van had updated its safety features to other vehicles I.e. Yukon. Oh yeah, adaptive cruise control too.

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  28. Same here. I have a trailer that’s about 9k lbs loaded and need the V8.
    It’s ridiculous that GM hasn’t bothered to update anything. They could easily give the Savana/Express the tech upgrades that Suburban/Tahoe models got. Especially considering how much they’ve raised prices in the past couple years.

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  29. The chevy express looks good to me .I have not owned a chevy express, ,but have shopped for one. The restricted number manufactured has raised the price above their value , however. It is a six cylinder truck… for 50,000 dollars! ! A running board step identical to the UHAUL running board does make entry easier. I am 80 years old and the u haul vans for me are easy to enter. A lighter weight engine might improve traction in deep snow. The seats should be improved to the quality of the van. A domed roof would improve headroom without effecting stability. The van market needs some competition.

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    1. No, a domed or raised roof actually does very little to add to usable headspace. I have driven many, many different vans over my 60 years, and raised roofs have never made it easier to do anything, except hit tree branches on residential streets.

      Also, the higher you pile or load in van, the more unstable the van feels. The current van is a perfect balance of functional and mobility; keep it, but update some safety features.

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  30. In my opinion a work van MUST be 1. reliable, 2.durable and 3. economical. As a Tradesman, the Expressvan I have had for 16yrs and 860,xxxkm has been that. Interiors are soon trashed. Touch screens are soon messed up with paint, mortar etc.
    Technology has its place but it is the simplicity and ruggedness of these vans that appeal to me.

    Reply

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