At the end of the year, Detroit reporters always ask this question during an informal chat with Mary Barra, Chairman and CEO of General Motors. Similar questions about the long-rumored Chevrolet Corvette SUV were asked of Barra at this year’s Automotive Press Association meeting. The answer was always the same: we don’t talk about new things. The woman who has been in charge of General Motors for almost ten years says that rumors of a Corvette SUV have been going around for a long time. We hear very little from Barra, but Invoice Pricing has learned that the SUV might come out in 2024 if it’s real. People who buy Corvettes are getting older, and it’s easier to get into an SUV than a low-slung car. In addition, an SUV has more room for people and their things. The car company knows, though, that a performance SUV needs to drive like the racing car it was based on. Take Porsche SUVs as an example. They are designed to handle and speed up like a real Porsche. More is coming Along with the SUV, the first-ever electric Corvette concept car will be shown off before the end of 2024. This will be a big year for Corvette. It will be recognized right away as a C8, but it will also be compatible with older models. Additionally, GM plans to use the event to give the EV a new look in order to draw younger customers. Barra says that GM’s dedication to an all-electric future has stayed the same. But GM is rethinking its plan for electrification and the idea of putting more money into hybrid cars because there is evidence that people are not adopting pure EVs as quickly as they thought they would. The long-term plan for electric vehicles has stayed the same, but Barra says that strategies have changed because making money is so important. EVs will be made available because people want them. Sources say that hybrids are being made right now, even though Barra won’t accept them. Changing over to hybrids As of now, the Corvette E-Ray is the only hybrid car you can buy in North America so that it would be a big change in strategy. Technically, it would be a relatively easy choice because GM is good at making hybrids and plug-in hybrids, which are already being made in many countries, most notably through GM’s joint ventures in China. The Ultrium system’s battery cells can be used in hybrids. Only a few people want to buy electric vehicles (EVs), so many automakers have had to lower their big plans. The retooling of the Orion assembly building in Michigan for General Motors will not happen until late 2025. Electric full-size pickup trucks will be made at the plant. GM also lowered its sales forecasts for electric vehicles. The reasons for this are both inside the company (like production problems with modular Ultium batteries) and outside the company (like falling demand and worries about charge infrastructure). Cost is another thing to think about. Eighteen percent more of the market in the US is made up of hybrids and plug-in hybrids, and eight-five percent more of the market is made up of electric vehicles. GM can’t miss this chance for any reason. Research is still being done on cruises “Righting the ship” at Cruise, GM’s self-driving car company was what Barra talked about for a long time with the media. In the first quarter of 2014, the results of an independent investigation and safety review into an accident that hurt a pedestrian should be made public. She said that Cruise will keep running her business in a more organized way in the future. Cruise stopped traveling by itself in the US last month after the accident on October 2 that hit and pulled a pedestrian. California also lost its permission to test on public roads. Barra says in a soft voice that the personal attacks and hostile tone of this year’s talks don’t bother her and that she plans to keep meeting with UAW president Shawn Fain often and keeping the lines of communication open. Barra says that GM can handle the extra costs that come with new labor deals with the UAW in the US and the Unifor in Canada. It will push for both more general efficiency and less spending in some areas. During the six-week strike, GM lost $1.1 billion in work. The deals will likely cost $9.3 billion, or $575 per car, throughout the contract. Even though profits will go down, they will still be high for the year. GM is going to raise its dividend and buy back $10 billion worth of stock to make investors happy. Barra has been CEO of GM for the second-longest time, and she has said she has no plans to step down any time soon. She believes she is living in an exciting time and that there is still a lot to do.
