Posted on 10/23/2025 5:45:01 AM PDT by Red Badger
The electric commercial van segment has little juice, so the BrightDrop is no more.
GM has decided to stop making the Chevrolet BrightDrop electric commercial van and will look for something new to build in the Canadian plant where it is assembled, says GM CEO Mary Barra. GM’s retail portfolio will otherwise remain unchanged, Barra told investors on a call to discuss third-quarter earnings. But the same is not true for the commercial side.
“The commercial electric van market has been developing much slower than expected, and changes to the regulatory framework and fleet incentives have made the business even more challenging,” says Barra. GM idled the CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, in May due to slow sales of the BrightDrop van, with plans originally calling for the return of a single shift this month. Barra said this decision wasn't made lightly because of the impact on employees. The BrightDrop has been used by FedEx, DHL, Walmart, and other companies.
We Need to Make More of the Chevy Equinox
Ironically, the CAMI plant made the Chevrolet Equinox until 2022 when the plant was retooled to make the BrightDrop. The gas Equinox and Equinox EV are strong products for GM and Barra announced plans to double production of the compact SUV. GM announced in June its plans to add production of the gas-engine Equinox at its Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas, in 2027. With demand outstripping supply, Barra said GM will double gas Equinox production. The Fairfax plans are part of a larger $4 billion investment in U.S. plants over the next two years. That includes moving production of the non-EV Chevrolet Blazer from Mexico to a plant in Tennessee.
The decision to drop BrightDrop and the plant shuffling are actions to right-size EV production going forward, Barra said. While the commercial EV van business has been abandoned, she stressed GM is still committed to vehicles like the Equinox EV and Cadillac Escalade IQ. GM will also continue to invest in new battery chemistries like LMR, but with the cancellation of federal tax incentives, it's clear that near-term EV adoption will be slower than forecast and ICE vehicles will have greater staying power.
Expensive New EV Strategy
GM is adjusting capacity and took a sizable $1.6 billion hit in the third quarter to do so. The revised EV strategy recognizes demand will fall with the lack of incentives, but Barra thinks the market will shake out as competitors who were selling electric vehicles at discount for regulatory compliance will be weeded out, while strong products will still find buyers. What was an artificially driven environment based on tax breaks can become a more natural one based on demand.
EV losses will continue to come down. And tariff costs may not be as large as initially forecast. The impact is now expected to be $3.5 billion to $4.5 billion, down from as much as $5 billion. Barra said GM will continue to increase domestic sourcing and manufacturing, while monitoring the ever-changing tariff policy of the Trump administration.
GM achieved its highest third-quarter market share since 2017, Barra said. Adjusted earnings were down and net income fell to $1.3 billion because of the $1.6 billion in charges related to changing EV plans, but the company has raised its guidance for the year and now expects adjusted earnings or $12 billion to $13 billion, up from $10 billion to $12.5 billion. The actions to reduce complexity, warranty, and fixed costs, as well as the restructuring of the business in China, should position the company to perform even better in 2026, said chief financial officer Paul Jacobson.
Well, if we’re putting in requests...
Toyota, bring back the Scion xB, first gen.
Nissan, bring back the Cube.
Ford, bring back the Transit Connect minivan.
And cool/funky/oddball colors please. Black makes me feel like I’m driving a hearse.
If you do this, don’t screw them up.
I have owned Ford, Chevrolet, Cadillac Buick, Pontiac, Dodge, BMW, Nissan, KIA, FIAT.
The one thing they have in common: They all break down...................
I'm surprised Ford and GM have lasted this long. I would have expected them to sign a distribution deal with Sears and KMart to get away from that pesky dealerships where employees work directly with customers so they can figure out what the customers want to buy.
The problem with that era was CAFE. Pelosi started attacking SUV’s and forced automakers to replace them with jacked-up sedans. Once she started this mess with the Pelosi CAFE, it was over.
The Asians were making jacked-up sedans (RAV4, Highlander, Sequoia, Sportage) and with the new CAFE it was decided these vehicles made more sense than a truck-based SUV (what a lie).
GM should have made the next-generation Envoy based on the Colorado/Canyon. In fact, the next-generation Colorado/Canyon had an SUV in Thailand, and Ford had the Everest (which would have been Explorer had they not decided to put the name on a jacked-up Taurus wagon). Pelosi and Obama CAFE killed those plans in America. The problem would be “truck chassis” when the Fake SUV Revolution favoured sedan chassis over trucks, as Jeep has done since the Cherokee and advanced it with the Grand Cherokee.
The Pelosi CAFE also killed GM’s plans to build a Zeta-based Chevrolet Impala in 2011 that would be a sport sedan version of the new Zeta-based Camaro. It would have been the North American version of Australia’s car, the Holden Commodore (which was being sold as the Pontiac G8; the G8 and Impala would have likely been made in Oshawa together had it been approved0.
It was never a bailout. It was seizure for being a political opponent of Obama. San Francisco elites changed the rules to destroy automobiles.
You are correct. They were told ICE vehicles will be regulated off the roads and that was happening… then Trump won.
With gas prices coming back down to lowest national average since too long ago, good luck with that.
“The Biden Admin must have did something to get car makers to make the EV crap”
indeed: good ol’ fashioned fascist government extortion: you WILL build EVs, or else ...
GM and other automakers didn’t have a choice but to discontinue ICE cars simply because the dems decided that all ICE vehicles were to be phased out in 10 years.
i notice you didn’t mention owning Toyota and Honda, and yes, they break down too, but not as often ...
I have Honda motorcycles, Yamaha, Suzuki and Harley.
And yes, they all break down, too!............
“GM has decided to stop making the Chevrolet BrightDrop electric commercial van”
Surprising, since commercial vans often run limited daily routes and recharging overnight should provide reliable energy for the next day.
They’re only making Equinox/Terrains in a 4 cyl. Bring back a V6 at least?
“Instead of listening to insane communist government bureaucrats, they should have been listening to their customers.”
Woman-run company, so they look at their job to ‘Civilize Men’, and in the auto world, nothing is more manly than a fuel-powered vehicle. No different than Bud Lite, when the babe there said the above OUTRIGHT.
“I wonder why CEO Mary Barra still has a job? She has been a disaster for GM.”
Firing her would be succumbing to male-domination.
So electric vehicles were merely large golf carts after all.
LOL!
“The Biden Admin must have did something to get car makers to make the EV crap”
In many more ways than we’re aware of. Think about it, at the start of Biden’s term most large companies were run by straight men with wives, kids, and grandkids. Why would they, virtually ALL of them, go woke at the same time...when we didn’t, and most people we know didn’t?
So we only know what’s reported, we’re never told what goes on behind the scenes, when Biden’s Woman had call centers to make sure corporate America was acting EXACTLY as instructed, under the credible threat being SHUT DOWN by regulators if they didn’t comply.
They ought to keep making the Malibu but they won’t because they are that dumb.
Careful, they might bring back the Vega...................
GM sold out to obama and the unions and I will never buy another GM product as long as I live. They also have the wrong leadership.
The average van user-those in the repair and home improvement trades-has no use for an electric vehicle. Where do you recharge them out on the road? And have the time to charge them?
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