1975 Cadillac Eldorado on 2040-cars

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GM admits goal of 500,000 EVs by 2017 won't be met

After a little over four years of Chevy Volt sales, General Motors has a better handle on how many people it expects will buy cars with plugs. And it's less than the company thought back in 2012, when then-senior vice president of global product development, Mary Barra, said that GM expected to sell 500,000 "vehicles with electrification" by 2017. In a sustainability report released this week, GM says that half-million vehicle target will not be met but that it still, "believes the future is electric." In the report, GM says that, "For our commitment to electrification, our forecasted outlook currently projects us, along with the broader automotive industry, falling short of expectations for 2017. ... We continue to aspire to our stated goal." GM's electric lineup includes the Volt, the recently popular Spark EV, the slow-selling Cadillac ELR and upcoming Malibu Hybrid, CT6 plug-in hybrid and eAssist technology in the Buick LaCrosse and Regal. GM says it has 180,834 electrified vehicles on the road in the US today. In 2013, it had 153,034; 95,578 in 2012, and 39,843 in 2011. The company's next big plug-in vehicle will be the second-gen Chevy Volt, which is coming to market later this year, followed by the 200-mile Bolt EV coming, we think, in 2017. GM Employees on Mission to Transform Transportation Sustainability report outlines vehicle and manufacturing progress; sets new targets 2015-05-07 DETROIT – General Motors' just-released sustainability report chronicles efforts by the company's 216,000 employees to live out GM's newly defined purpose and values by earning customer loyalty, applying meaningful technology advances and improving the communities where it does business. These actions – led by CEO Mary Barra – further drive sustainability into the company's culture through building safer and smarter vehicles with less environmental impact. "GM will take a leading role in the auto industry's transformation as it undergoes an unprecedented period of change," said Bob Ferguson, senior vice president, GM Global Public Policy. "From GM's labs to its assembly lines, our people are driving the world to a better place through improved mobility." The company believes the future is electric, with billions of investment to support an all-in-house approach to the development and manufacturing of electrified vehicles. It now counts 180,834 on the road in the U.S – up from 153,034 in 2013.

GM recalling another 2.7 million vehicles in five separate campaigns

The recalls keep rolling in from General Motors, evidently keen to avoid repeating the mistakes of the ignition-switch debacle and clean house. This time they're all coming at once, with five separate recalls announced together covering approximately 2.7 million vehicles.
The largest of the five actions involves over 2.4 million units of the previous-generation Chevrolet Malibu and Malibu Maxx, Pontiac G6 and Saturn Aura in order to fix brake light wiring harness, which have been found to be susceptible to corrosion. The recall is separate from the 56k Aura sedans which GM recently recalled over faulty shift cables, not to mention the previous massive recall of 1.3 million vehicles - some of them the same models - but appears to have resulted from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation that started with the G6 almost a year ago.
The second-largest campaign involves the 2014 Chevy Malibu, specifically those fitted with GM's 2.5-liter engine and stop/start system, approximately 140,000 examples of which has been found to have problematic brakes. The issue does not appear to be connected to the recall of 8k Malibu and Buick LaCrosse sedans (also involving brake woes) which we reported upon last week. Four crashes have been reported in such models, but GM admits it's not yet clear if the problem was a contributing factor in the accidents.

It's going to cost $12 billion to fix Cadillac

The Cadillac CT6's development predates Johan de Nysschen taking over at Cadillac, but the forthcoming flagship is the luxury brand's first major new product launch since the beginning of his tenure. The vehicle's debut also marks the beginning of a comprehensive $12 billion renewal plan bringing eight new vehicles in the next five years. Now, the former Audi and Infiniti exec is talking about joining Caddy and the company's future. "Cadillac will be a powerhouse global luxury brand that will command the respect of its peers," de Nysschen said about the forecast state of the company in 2020 to Bloomberg. He disclosed that three of those new vehicles under the five-year plan would be crossovers and reiterated that plug-in hybrids are on the way that would take advantage of the Chevrolet Volt's tech advances. De Nysschen also reminisced about joining Cadillac last year. He told Bloomberg that leaving Infiniti wasn't an easy decision, and there were apparently long conversations on the phone with General Motors President Dan Ammann discussing strategy for the luxury brand. De Nysschen was apparently clear that a greater investment and more autonomy from the corporate mother ship were vital. These days, the revitalization of Cadillac is just getting rolling. The company has a swanky New York office with a dedicated team to focus on the future. According to de Nysschen, the brand will grow its staff to around 150 people by the end of the year, compared to over 40 now. The marketing plan is to position the American luxury brand as a more distinctive product versus more common German rivals. It's going to be very interesting to see if this new Caddy can dare greatly enough to accomplish these lofty goals.