The problem is that it was a decent strategy. When practical BEVs were new and exciting, and you have all the excitement around startups and new technologies, the strategy of starting with high priced, high profit models worked. There were enough early adopters and market excitement. Now there are options, and GM hasn’t been the center of excitement in a century, so who’s going to buy high priced, high margin stuff from them? They missed that winDow of opportunity, and really need to iterate on the Bolt/Volt legacy they started. Their opportunity now is their bread and butter: making practical, affordable cars for everyone
There’s still unexplored niches that GM can capture. Silverado and GMC Sierra are likely going to be the first PHEV pickup.
The market is beginning to get crowded at the practical, affordable car range. Prius Prime is a very solid car for the compact car segment, and RAV4 Prime in the CUV segment is also solid. Even then, there’s Hyundai Tucson PHEV and Kia Niro. Ford Escape PHEV is being killed off (damn it Ford), but the low-end PHEV segment is basically saturated as it is. Its probably a good idea for GM to have left it, there’s just too much competition now. And that competition is Toyota.
Moving away from Toyota-covered niches is probably a good business move. Even if it means giving up the “practical driver”. There’s just too many “practical drivers” who instinctively buy Toyota these days…
The problem is that it was a decent strategy. When practical BEVs were new and exciting, and you have all the excitement around startups and new technologies, the strategy of starting with high priced, high profit models worked. There were enough early adopters and market excitement. Now there are options, and GM hasn’t been the center of excitement in a century, so who’s going to buy high priced, high margin stuff from them? They missed that winDow of opportunity, and really need to iterate on the Bolt/Volt legacy they started. Their opportunity now is their bread and butter: making practical, affordable cars for everyone
There’s still unexplored niches that GM can capture. Silverado and GMC Sierra are likely going to be the first PHEV pickup.
The market is beginning to get crowded at the practical, affordable car range. Prius Prime is a very solid car for the compact car segment, and RAV4 Prime in the CUV segment is also solid. Even then, there’s Hyundai Tucson PHEV and Kia Niro. Ford Escape PHEV is being killed off (damn it Ford), but the low-end PHEV segment is basically saturated as it is. Its probably a good idea for GM to have left it, there’s just too much competition now. And that competition is Toyota.
Moving away from Toyota-covered niches is probably a good business move. Even if it means giving up the “practical driver”. There’s just too many “practical drivers” who instinctively buy Toyota these days…