GM's Factory Shuffle Could Point to Big Electric Car Plans
Something electric could be brewing at General Motors, and we’re not talking about just the Chevrolet Bolt.
John Rosevear at the Motley Fool has an interesting take on what the future holds for Orion Assembly (the Michigan facility tapped to produce the Bolt this fall), and why GM seems to be keeping other models away from the plant.
Yesterday, we brought you news of the Buick Verano’s impending death, but the manufacturing space the luxury compact would leave behind is also interesting. With the Verano (likely) gone from Orion after 2017, the plant would hold only the Chevrolet Sonic and Bolt.
A small, yet-unnamed Cadillac model was due to be produced at Orion within a few years, until GM kiboshed that plan in April and moved its production to Fairfax Assembly in Kansas City.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Rosevear writes, “unless GM is planning to move something else into the Orion factory.”
While recent developments imply that GM has something special in mind for Orion, there’s no hint from the automaker that any new small car models are on the way, electric or otherwise.
Analysts are predicting between 30,000 and 80,000 Bolts sold in its first year — a wide range, for sure, but far less than the 400,000 Model 3 reservations Tesla has to work through. If the utility-minded Bolt proves a success, and EVs steadily gain market share, GM could diversify its electric offerings to battle a growing number of competitors, including Ford.
It could do that, but only if it had space to build more models on the same architecture. And that’s where Orion’s spare capacity enters the picture again.
Rosevear speculates that a new EV model from GM could be a halo car for Buick, though that seems to be the opposite direction of where the crossover-infatuated brand is heading. Buick’s global chief Duncan Aldred said in the past that he didn’t want low-volume models in the lineup, but viewpoints can change.
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- Analoggrotto Does anyone seriously listen to this?
- Thomas Same here....but keep in mind that EVs are already much more efficient than ICE vehicles. They need to catch up in all the other areas you mentioned.
- Analoggrotto It's great to see TTAC kicking up the best for their #1 corporate sponsor. Keep up the good work guys.
- John66ny Title about self driving cars, linked podcast about headlight restoration. Some relationship?
- Jeff JMII--If I did not get my Maverick my next choice was a Santa Cruz. They are different but then they are both compact pickups the only real compact pickups on the market. I am glad to hear that the Santa Cruz will have knobs and buttons on it for 2025 it would be good if they offered a hybrid as well. When I looked at both trucks it was less about brand loyalty and more about price, size, and features. I have owned 2 gm made trucks in the past and liked both but gm does not make a true compact truck and neither does Ram, Toyota, or Nissan. The Maverick was the only Ford product that I wanted. If I wanted a larger truck I would have kept either my 99 S-10 extended cab with a 2.2 I-4 5 speed or my 08 Isuzu I-370 4 x 4 with the 3.7 I-5, tow package, heated leather seats, and other niceties and it road like a luxury vehicle. I believe the demand is there for other manufacturers to make compact pickups. The proposed hybrid Toyota Stout would be a great truck. Subaru has experience making small trucks and they could make a very competitive compact truck and Subaru has a great all wheel drive system. Chevy has a great compact pickup offered in South America called the Montana which gm could make in North America and offered in the US and Canada. Ram has a great little compact truck offered in South America as well. Compact trucks are a great vehicle for those who want an open bed for hauling but what a smaller more affordable efficient practical vehicle.
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Actually, the logic is two-fold. First, I don't believe that Tesla can do the basic manufacturing any cheaper than the other companies. More important, the others can sell their electric cars at a loss, since they offset that loss with bigger profits from big trucks and sport-utes (which they can sell more of due to the EV mileage offsets under CAFE).
I would be delighted to see the Volt drivetrain make its way into more offerings by GM. From the test market I am aware of, my business partner and his 60k mile volt, it works flawlessly.