GM has sent a gas-powered Cadillac SUV out to pasture as it rejigs factory floors for an EV.
The move encapsulates GM’s big bet. The company is accelerating its shift toward electrification by freeing up manufacturing capacity, even when combustion vehicles still generate meaningful sales.
The Cadillac XT4, the smallest SUV in the luxury brand’s lineup, ended production in January after a seven-year run.
Cadillac moved a respectable amount of XT4s in its final quarter, selling 6,717 units in the last part of 2024. That was a 37 percent jump from 2023’s final quarter of sales.
Only the Escalade, Lyriq, and XT5 models outsold the XT4.
GM booted the well-liked SUV from its production facility – the Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas. The plant is now retooling for the rebirth of the Chevy Bolt.
The Bolt is also a well-liked car and fits a niche that nearly every automaker has left vacant: a low-cost electric vehicle.
American EVs that don’t require serious trade-offs from gas cars are exceptionally expensive. The Lucid Air starts at $69,900, the Rivian R1S’ base price is $75,900, and Tesla’s Model Y begins pricing at $44,990.
The XT4 was Cadillac’s fourth best-selling car in 2024
For years, the diminutive electric SUV was the cheapest new EV American drivers could buy. Entry-level Bolts sold for $33,000.
But in April 2023, GM CEO Mary Barra announced the discontinuation of the Bolt from Chevy’s lineup. Immediately after the announcement, customers bolted to dealerships, and Chevy took notice of the blitz of sales.
‘Our customers love today’s Bolt,’ Barra said after the discontinuation notice. ‘It has been delivering record sales and some of the highest customer satisfaction and loyalty scores in the industry.’
So, GM said it would bring it back.
The company announced plans to return the small SUV in 2026 with better battery technology and an updated exterior.
GM has said the upcoming Bolt will maintain its small footprint and reasonable price, though details for the upcoming model remain scarce.
The fact that GM is dedicating a production facility to the new Bolt suggests they’re anticipating significant demand, especially if the company is willing to kill off a Cadillac model.
GM has quickly become the second-best-selling American EV manufacturer, only falling short of Tesla.
GM said its rebooting the Bolt after manufacturers ignored the cheap EV space
GM has seen a boost in EV sales, catapulting the automaker to second place in battery electric sales in 2024
CEO Mary Barra has headed the company through a seismic shift toward new electric vehicles
Last year, the company expanded its EV lineup with two new pickups, two more mid-size SUVs, and an electrified Escalade.
The company sold 43,982 EV units in the final three months of 2024.
For Cadillac loyalists worried about the shrinking SUV lineup, the compact XT5 will now serve as the entry point for traditional Cadillac crossovers, alongside the new electric Optiq.
Both occupy the compact luxury SUV segment, leaving Cadillac without a subcompact offering for the first time in nearly a decade.
The company didn’t immediately respond to Daily Mail’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, new vehicle sales hit huge numbers at the end of 2024 – but not for every carmaker.
Nissan has struggled with slumping sales numbers despite billions of dollars in global manufacturing investments.
Executives in the company said in November that the brand only had 12 to 14 months of cash left to stay alive at the time, and it has been exploring a potential merger with Honda.
Stellantis, which owns other American major brands like Dodge, Ram, Chrysler and Jeep, has also seen slowing demand.
The company reported a 70 percent decline in profits after launching several expensive new vehicles with shoddy reliability records.
Tesla sales are also on the downturn, especially in Europe.
The EV maker is still the most dominant battery vehicle producer in the US. But CEO Elon Musk’s closeness with President Trump and endorsement of far-right European political parties has turned off left and center-left consumers that are historically more likely to buy EVs.
Meanwhile, other manufacturers are hitting their groove.
Toyota announced huge sales growth in its hybrids. Kia, Hyundai, and GM all announced massive jumps in their EV sales.
Even Rivian and Lucid, two American-made EV producers, announced better-than-expected deliveries of their vehicles in 2024.
