GM Manufacturing Boss Talks Flexibility To Track With Demand
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Gerald Johnson, GM’s executive vice president of global manufacturing and sustainability, has addressed the automaker’s EV strategy shift, highlighting changing consumer demand and other challenges, while reiterating that delays in GM’s EV rollout do not necessarily indicate a loss of confidence in the overarching EV transition. Johnson is set to retire from GM at the end of the year, with Jens Peter Clausen expected to take over the position after Johnson’s departure.
Gerald Johnson
Johnson’s comments were delivered during a recent interview with Automotive News.
“We’re still confident in those [EV] investments, but we do have to be agile enough to time and / or retime some of our startup dates so that we are hitting the market with the right product at the right time frame,” Johnson said. “The plans that we laid out a year ago, we have to be able to look at the market today and make adjustments and act accordingly. I think that’s smart business.”
To that end, GM has delayed the expanded production of its all-electric pickup truck models, the Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV, at the automaker’s Orion Assembly plant in Michigan to mid-2026 after previously delaying production to late 2025. Both models will initially be produced at the automaker’s Factory Zero plant in Detroit. Additionally, Buick has indefinitely postponed its first EV in the North American market, initially planned for 2024, while increased battery cell capacity under the Ultium Cells LLC joint venture will roll out at a more measured pace.
This cautious approach mirrors broader industry trends, where mass-market consumers remain hesitant to buy EVs due to high prices and a dearth of public charging infrastructure. As a result, GM has scaled back its 2024 EV production targets from 300,000 to 250,000 vehicles, though the company remains optimistic about achieving positive variable profit.
What’s more, General Motors still plans to launch several new EV models this year, including the GMC Sierra EV, the Cadillac Optiq crossover, and the base Chevy Equinox EV crossover variant that will start at $34,995. General Motors is also leveraging its manufacturing flexibility to respond to market demand by producing both internal combustion engine (ICE) and EV models concurrently at the same facilities, such as at the Spring Hill, Tennessee plant, which manufactures both the ICE-based Cadillac XT5 and XT6, as well as the all-electric Cadillac Lyriq.
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“We’re still confident in those [EV] investments, but we do have to be agile enough to time and / or retime some of our startup dates so that we are hitting the market with the right product at the right time frame,” Johnson said. “The plans that we laid out a year ago, we have to be able to look at the market today and make adjustments and act accordingly. I think that’s smart business.”
More PR BS. “Smart Business” would mean putting products in your plants that sell- not letting a newly completed $4billion asset collect dust in hopes the market for EVs pick up enough. If this is considered “smart business,” gm is in more trouble than I thought.
Well the fact GM did create EV models that can be built on ICE assembly lines with other ICE vehicles is smart.
They can ramp up or down what is needed and not hold any dedicated EV lines.
Like it or not EV is not going away. Unless the far left of the Democratic Party let’s go of their activist kill ICE plans it will come back at one election cycle.
The time it takes to create and build EV models is forcing mfgs to continue. As elections come every 4 years and then you have 12 carb states doing their own thing. You know California and NY will not back off.
i just bought the cadillac lyric not because of being a big EV fan but because my wife has a hybrid and my commute is not long and the vehicle rides real nice and technology great 12k in rebates helped me decide and i’m keeping an open mind. this will be the future at some point we all might not be around but it will be.
They key here is that you chose to buy that particular vehicle because you believe that it will meet your specific needs. You were not forced to buy that vehicle because random bureaucrats and politicians decided that for you.
Right now, the market is voting with its dollars to largely stick with ICE and Hybrids. When BEVs become the better option, they will naturally win out and the market will move that way. This is a smart move by gm; but let’s not kid ourselves that this was done for any other reason than overestimating their own market-reading abilities.
No one is being forced to buy an EV! Why are you spouting lies?
While some states are transitioning to EVs in the long distance future, plug in hybrids fall under the EV classification.
Your absolutely right i was not forced and if my wife did not have the hybrid i probably would of kept my infiniti but between the trade in offered and rebates made it worth while to try if people dont agree thats their choice
Use some of that flexibility to build some cool vehicles like a short bed, regular cab Silverado with a 5.3 V-8? You already have all of the parts to do it. It would require no new engineering or development. Call it an SS package and it would be an instant success. Charge a premium for the package and then stand back and watch them fly off of the lots. I predict that it would be difficult to keep up with the demand. This is a no brainer.
GM used to build some cool vehicles before the yuppies took over, now it’s all boring.
Malaise Era 2.0