GM Isn't Ready To Give Up On Gas-Powered SUVs Just Yet
General Motors is hard at work making sure its upcoming electric vehicles like the Chevy Silverado EV and Equinox EV will give companies like Ford and Tesla a run for their money. It's been full steam ahead for GM's Ultium platform since the launch of the wild GMC Hummer EV. However, GM's bread and butter is still internal combustion (ICE) cars by a significant margin (as its EVs don't always sell too well).
One of the major breadwinners for General Motors are huge SUVs like the GMC Yukon and Chevy Tahoe. To reflect that, GM just announced that it will be investing upwards of $500 million into its Arlington Assembly plant in Arlington, Texas. Per a press release from General Motors, the company's investment will explicitly go to ready the plant for the production of gas-powered full-size SUVs. As for what those SUVs are, whether a new model entirely or updated versions of its existing SUVs, GM is not dropping any hints.
GM isn't putting all of its eggs in one basket
This has a number of ramifications. First, if you're a fan of big gas-powered SUVs and you were afraid of the rising tide of EVs, fret no more, as GM has you covered, at least for the time being. Secondly, as several automakers pledge to electrify their entire lineup within the next five to 10 years, GM isn't making such a statement. This $500 investment means that GM isn't putting all of its eggs in the electric basket just yet.
And really, you can't blame them for wanting to stay on the safe side as one of the largest automakers in the world. According to GM, the company has led the industry in making full-size SUVs for 48 straight years, and it isn't going to wind down those operations overnight to gamble on an EV Escalade or Suburban, as cool as that may sound. As it stands, GM's Arlington plant produces the Chevy Tahoe, Chevy Suburban, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, and both the Cadillac Escalade and Escalade-V