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GM Drops Cruze, Impala, Volt, LaCrosse, XTS, CT6


Assimilator

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This rumor has been swirling for nearly a year however.  Continental is also being dropped, but I didn't expect CT6 to go first.

Lincoln will be exiting the car business however, Caddy does have new ones coming so maybe it's not really a surprise if they have replacements.    

Edited by Assimilator
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9 minutes ago, Assimilator said:

This rumor has been swirling for nearly a year however.  Continental is also being dropped, but I didn't expect CT6 to go first.

I also got confirmation that Lincoln is no longer developing cars, there are no direct replacements for MKZ and Continental arriving.   

While the MKZ name will get the axe when the sedan dies off, I think you will see the Continental name used on a CUV down the road... 

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Not surprising that GM has been avoiding the inevitable, let Ford take the heat and then shutter up to five plants.

And unlike Ford, the stock price will probably go up on the news that GM intends closing so many plants..

Edited by jpd80
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Who woulda thought Chrysler pointed the way when everybody was criticizing them for dropping cars.  I know I wasn't one of them, I've been advocating this for awhile.  I don't think people pay enough attention to the market trends, it's always in the numbers and you just have to extrapolate for historical trends.    

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3 minutes ago, Assimilator said:

Who woulda thought Chrysler pointed the way when everybody was criticizing them for dropping cars.  I know I wasn't one of them, I've been advocating this for awhile.  I don't think people pay enough attention to the market trends, it's always in the numbers and you just have to extrapolate for historical trends.    

But I don't think anybody saw the midsized truck market making a comeback.  I don't think GM did either - I think they were just throwing darts hoping something hit a balloon.

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24 minutes ago, jpd80 said:

Not surprising that GM has been avoiding the inevitable, let Ford take the heat and then shutter up to five plants.

And unlike Ford, the stock price will probably go up on the news that GM intends closing so many plants..

GM's stock is up $2.08 as we speak, to $38 even.

Edited by rmc523
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11 minutes ago, akirby said:

But I don't think anybody saw the midsized truck market making a comeback.  I don't think GM did either - I think they were just throwing darts hoping something hit a balloon.

Toyota and Nissan knew that the U.S. midsize truck market always had good growth potential and was always worth pursuing. GM, Ford, and FCA basically gave them a good chunk of that segment on a silver platter in the early 2010s. GM eventually recognized this too, and was able to engineer a U.S. version of the second generation Colorado that it introduced a couple years before in Thailand and allocate a U.S. plant (Wentzville) to build it.

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Toyota and Nissan stayed in the market because they were selling the same midsized trucks here that they were selling worldwide and less competition meant less price pressure.  It was more a case of “it doesn’t cost us anything to stay here” rather than “we see a comeback”.

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29 minutes ago, rperez817 said:

Toyota and Nissan knew that the U.S. midsize truck market always had good growth potential and was always worth pursuing. GM, Ford, and FCA basically gave them a good chunk of that segment on a silver platter in the early 2010s. GM eventually recognized this too, and was able to engineer a U.S. version of the second generation Colorado that it introduced a couple years before in Thailand and allocate a U.S. plant (Wentzville) to build it.

GM got basally told they needed to add product to plants to save them from closing during bankruptcy. This was more of Washington telling them to build stuff and avoid shutting down plants. A broken clock is right two times a day.

Edited by jasonj80
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1 hour ago, akirby said:

Toyota and Nissan stayed in the market because they were selling the same midsized trucks here that they were selling worldwide and less competition meant less price pressure.  It was more a case of “it doesn’t cost us anything to stay here” rather than “we see a comeback”.

Not to mention, they didn't change their trucks for years.

Frontier is STILL the same truck as when it debuted in what?  2005?

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The Midsize truck market is NOT big or growing significantly, especially compared to the other truck businesses which Ford has smartly prioritized.  Ford is still only planning one shift for Ranger production.

Some of these segments can get sales, but getting profitable sales alongside inefficient production capacity better utilized for other products is the trick.  

Edited by Assimilator
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The only reason we have Ranger is Bronco.  They need it to fill out the plant.  Or vice versaTogether they make sense.   

The other reason is that F series is close to maxing out plant capacity so splitting off some Ranger sales won’t hurt.

As for the midsized market - GM grew the market with Canyorado and I think Ranger will do the same.  It’s a finite market for sure but it’s not shrinking and there is room for new players contrary to what we all thought a few years ago.

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GM didn't say it was discontinuing CT6 (or Lacrosse for that matter), just that it will stop building them in North America. GM can import them from China once the trade deals are hammered out. Impala is gone for sure... sales of non-luxury brand large sedan have completely collapsed so this is not surprising.

Cruze sales have also tanked and it is being build in Mexico so that makes Lordstown redundant.

Volt sales has been in dire straights ever since Bolt came out. Volt was largely sold in California only and the buyers clearly prefers EV. Compact PHEV doesn't make that much sense because you end up driving in EV mode most of the time... PHEV still makes sense in larger vehicle where EV range is limited due to weight. I'm honestly surprised that GM didn't make the 2nd Gen Volt into a CUV... basically add 1" suspension lift and square back instead of the fastback. Kia figured out the package and executed just right for Niro as a CUV (even though it is really just a hatchback), while Ford and GM both missed the mark with their PHEV C-Max and Volt.

The more interesting question is what will GM build in these factories (if any) after the UAW negotiation is done next year. I'm guessing GM will bring Envision, Encore, and Trax assembly to North America. And add more CUV-friendly shapes for Buick and GMC version of Bolt.

 

Edited by bzcat
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