According to recent reports, General Motors will end production of its flagship sedan, the Chevrolet Malibu. The company is scrapping the vehicle from its lineup to free up manufacturing capacity for the electric Chevrolet Bolt.
GM will be revamping a Kansas manufacturing plant that produces the Malibu, where production of the sedan will officially cease in November. Furthermore, the Detroit-based auto manufacturer will halt production of the Cadillac XT4 beginning in January of next year.
“To facilitate the installation of tooling and other plant modifications… GM will end production of the Chevrolet Malibu in November 2024 and pause production of the Cadillac XT4 after January 2025,” according to a statement from a GM spokesperson given to Fox News.
The refitting of the Kansas facility will amount to a $390 million investment to prepare for the production of the upcoming EV. The end of the Malibu marks a shift in the auto industry, where car companies have been moving away from the sedan in favor of crossover SUVs. Reportedly, the Malibu was the last remaining Chevy sedan aside from the Corvette.
“When production resumes in late 2025, Fairfax will produce both the Bolt EV and XT4 on the same assembly line, which gives GM flexibility to respond to changes in consumer demand,” the GM spokesperson added.
Like many other auto manufacturers worldwide, General Motors has been focused on rolling out fully electric cars in recent years. Despite ambitious industry targets to phase out traditional gas-powered vehicles, consumer demand has not matched the pace of production.
As a result, many companies must reevaluate their forecasts and EV strategy accordingly. The American Tribune recently covered a report from Ford that showed the company had endured a significant loss on every single all-electric vehicle it sold. Reportedly, the company lost $132,000 per vehicle for each EV sold in the first quarter of 2024.
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Similarly, Mercedes-Benz has been forced to backtrack on its ambitious goal to be fully electric by 2030. However, CEO Ola Källenius has recently expressed that the EV transition is taking longer than initial projections suggested.
“Customers and market conditions will set the pace of the transformation,” the German automaker said. “The company plans to be in a position to cater to different customer needs, whether it’s an all-electric drivetrain or an electrified combustion engine, until well into the 2030s.”
Further demonstrating the mismatch between consumer demand and the breakneck pace of EV production, car dealerships around the nation wrote a letter to President Biden urging his administration to tap the brakes on the agenda to push the vehicles on the American public.
The letter read in part, “Mr. President, it is time to tap the brakes on the unrealistic government electric vehicle mandate. Allow time for the battery technology to advance. Allow time to make BEVs more affordable. Allow time to develop domestic sources for the minerals to make batteries. Allow time for the charging infrastructure to be built and prove reliable. And most of all, allow time for the American consumer to get comfortable with the technology and make the choice to buy an electric vehicle.”