Towards the end of July, a report from Automotive News highlighted that General Motors might cancel a handful of passenger cars after the year 2020. One of the nameplates mentioned is the Volt range-extended plug-in hybrid, which according to the publication, could be replaced in 2022.
By what, you ask? By a “new gasoline-electric crossover model” that may or may not be called Volt. The scenario put forth by Automotive News is furthered by Autoforecast Solutions, which claims the Volt “will go out of production in 2022” at the automaker’s Hamtramck plant.
The data house makes a case for the electric offensive General Motors announced only recently, which will see “at least 20 all-electric cars” on sale by the year 2023. Two of those will arrive in 2018, and there’s even the possibility of a high-performance EV with Camaro-like proportions.
Another reason the Volt might not be long for the U.S. market in 2022 is the increasing popularity of all-electric vehicles. Sales of the Volt aren’t helping either, with Autoforecast Solutions reporting that the plug-in hybrid hatchback is down 12% compared to the volume posted in 2016.
The truth of the matter is, General Motors is the sort of automaker that will build what is commercially successful. This formula is important to the Biggest of the Big Three if the Detroit-based automaker doesn’t want to repeat the reorganization of 2009. Other than the financial crisis, GM was too big and too diversified for its own good back then. A bottomless money pit, that is.
The challenges of 2022 don’t have anything to do with financial turmoil or bad management, but competition. Just about every automaker out there is racing to catch up with Tesla, a scenario that will eventually lead to General Motors competing with Ford, Mercedes-Benz with BMW, and so forth. If this will be the case after all, then indeed, the Volt will be past its prime in 2022.
What’s your take on this? Should the Volt live on as a plug-in hybrid or would morphing to crossover or BEV be more lucrative for General Motors?
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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