Electrification is sweeping through a lot of industry vehicle segments. Coupes, sedans, crossovers, you name it. However there is still a lack of planned EVs for the the pickup truck market, and GM does not intend to be there to fix that.
During FT Future of the Car Summit USA in Detroit, Mike Abelson, GM’s vice president of global strategy, talked about GM’s strategy going forward.
He reiterated GM’s plan of having 20 all-electric cars within the next five years. Along with deploying a fleet of self-driving electric cars as part of a ride-sharing program platform in a major US city next year.
But how many of those 20 new vehicles are electric pickup trucks? None of them. And do not expect any for several decades.
When asked about the possibility of an electric pickup truck, Abelson said the following:
“The core business is going to be the core business for a couple of decades to come,” said Abelson. “There will not be any AV/EV pickups.”
Abelson also stated that,
“We do believe we’ll lead the industry in EVs sometime in the next decade or so,”
Now I do not run an automotive industry, but while looking at what the current best selling vehicles are in the United States:
Source: GoodCarBadCar
How do you plan to lead the EV industry when you won’t even offer a vehicle in the most popular segment of cars in the United States?
Now it’s one thing to say that there won’t be an electric pickup truck within the next 5-7 years. I would not even mind if GM said that they will work on an electric pickup, but still give priority to their gasoline cousins for the time being. I understand that there may or may not be a strong sentiment from “truck guys” where they would prefer to have a gasoline engine. But to say to not expect an AV/EV pickup for several decades as if it’s some sort of plague is ridiculous.
During the same conference GM was talking about how they would help with building fly cars. Building flying cars is a larger possibility from GM than having a pickup powered by a battery.
Realistically I cannot see this sentiment stand for too long. If another company (Rivian, Tesla, whoever) makes a successful electric pickup, then I do not see how GM wouldn’t change its stance and produce one as well.
What do you guys think about this? Let us know down in the comments below.
Source: Detroit Free Press
