Ford Rival GM Delays EV Pickup Production By Six Months

With demand for all-electric vehicles falling behind expected levels of growth – even as sales continue to grow – automakers like Ford have scaled back their investments and overall ambitions in that area of the business. We’ve seen a number of automakers dial back not only the amount of money they plan to invest in electrification, but also, delay the launch of select models. Now, Ford’s cross-town rival General Motors (GM) is making yet another move by pushing back production expansion plans for a pair of EV pickups.

According to GM Authority, the automaker is delaying its planned move to expand production of the Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV. Previously, GM planned to utilize the Orion Assembly plant to build additional units of those two EV pickups, and instead, both will continue to be produced exclusive at Factory Zero, as is currently the case – at least for the Silverado EV, as the Sierra EV hasn’t yet entered production.

“Over the next few years, third-party forecasters now see the EV market grow steadily but more slowly than it did over the last few years. As a result, we are adjusting our spending plans to make sure we’re capital efficient and moving in lockstep with customers,” GM CEO Mary Barra said during the company’s recent earnings call. “We’re confident that we can meet customer demand for standout EV trucks in the interim by leveraging the production capability and flexibility we have in Factory Zero. We will also continue to take advantage of the flexibility we have to mix production between ICE and EV at key plants.”

This move comes on the heels of several adjustments on GM’s part, which include dialing back its planned overall EV production output in the coming years, while also adding more hybrids and PHEVs to its lineup. Meanwhile, Ford is on a similar trajectory, delaying the planned production start dates of select EVs and planning to add a hybrid option across the ICE-focused Ford Blue lineup by 2030, all while shifting its focus to smaller, cheaper all-electric models.

We’ll have more on everything Ford’s competition is up to soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.