Latest news with #E-Transit
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ford's April sales, led by pickups, surged 16% ahead of tariffs
Ford Motor Co. reported a record sales month for April, with U.S. sales climbing 16% as the company offered employee pricing across its lineup to all customers as uncertainty loomed about President Donald Trump's tariff plans and the prospect that they would soon increase vehicle prices. Ford reported on May 1 that it sold 208,675 new vehicles in April, compared with 179,588 sold in April 2024. Sales of electrified vehicles, which includes hybrids, rose 8.4% to 28,190, although sales of the all-electric F-150 Lightning, Mach-E and E-Transit trucks dropped, due in part to inventory constraints. Ford's total U.S. sales for 2025 are up 3.2% to 709,966 vehicles sold. Ford's real sales glory was in trucks, which accounted for nearly half of the company's total sales. Ford said it sold a total of 116,955 trucks, a 19% jump from a year ago April. Ford reported that total sales of its F-Series pickups surged 13% to 72,765 trucks sold. Breaking out retail sales of the F-Series, sales of the pickups rose 17% in April. A Ford spokesman said the company only provides figures for total sales, not retail sales. The Maverick pickup hit a sales record, Ford said, with sales of 20,183 Mavericks in April, a 67% increase from April 2024. Sales of the Ranger small pickup rose 62% to 7,006 sold for the month. CEO Jim Farley had suggested the company would have strong April sales following gains in March as well, in part due to the employee pricing sale Ford launched on April 3 — which Ford extended to run through July 4 — but also on the chance that consumers want to get ahead of anticipated price increases once tariffs kick in. First look at a beast: Ford's new F-Series Platinum Plus Super Duty truck offers a unique ownership experience "We're seeing double digit sales increases since March and April and we ran this employee pricing," Farley told CNN host Erin Burnett on April 30. "There may be a lot of customers going out and buying cars before what they fear is the import tariffs increasing prices. That may be a dynamic. We're certainly seeing our inventories are shrinking at the dealerships." Meantime, General Motors also said it had a strong April despite low incentives and tight inventory. The automaker does not typically report monthly sales, but GM spokesman Jim Cain told the Detroit Free Press that GM's U.S. sales rose 20% to 267,051 vehicles delivered, also led by strong sales of pickups. Cain said GM sold 82,537 full-sized Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups in April. Ford did see sales dips in its all-electric vehicles. The F-150 Lightning sales plummeted by 17% to 1,740 sold in April. For the year, Lightning sales are down 9% to 8,927. Sales of the E-Transit also tumbled in April by 81% to 192 sold. Year-to-date, E-Transit sales are flat at 3,948 sold. Ford spokesman Said Deep said in a statement that 2025 model year changeover for Lightning and Mach-E, as well as low inventory during the changeover, led to sales for both vehicles declining in April. Sales of the Mach-E were down 40% to 2,927 in April. Year-to-date sales are about flat at 14,534. Deep said that going into April Mach-E and F-150 Lightning were operating nationwide on nine and 19 dealer days' supply, respectively. The industry considers a 60-day supply to be normal. "With '25 (model year) vehicle now hitting dealer lots as we progressed through April, we are well positioned for a strong May sales month for both electric vehicles," Deep said in the statement. Ford's total SUV sales for the month increased 10% to 75,183 sold. Sales of the Bronco Sport, built in Mexico, soared 55% to 11,886 sold. The larger Bronco, built in Michigan, sold 14,400 units, a 73% gain. Another volume seller was the Explorer. Ford reported a gain of 9% to 20,989 Explorers sold. Ford brand sales rose 15% in the month to 197,060 vehicles sold. Ford's luxury brand, Lincoln, saw a 40% gain in sales in April to 11,615 total vehicles sold, led by sales of midsize SUVs: Nautilus and Aviator. Farley told CNN that the sales offer optimism in the year ahead despite the uncertainty around tariffs. "Maybe we're in the first or second inning of a nine-inning game. But so far for us ... the revenue has been pretty strong," Farley said. "We report earnings next week and you'll see that as a trend." Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@ Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford reports April sales surged 16% led by pickups
Daily Mail
24-04-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Ford turns electric Transit van into a mobile sauna
By It's the question nobody has ever asked: can you turn a Ford Transit into a sauna on wheels? But the US maker has done just that, creating a one-off vehicle that's currently touring Britain. The Sauna Van is said to have been built to showcase the company's 'commitment to innovation and its understanding of the evolving needs of its customers'. Just who asked for a commercial vehicle to strip down and perspire in, we're not entirely sure. Ford states that the unique motor - made by its Ford Pro Special Vehicle Team - can cater to those partaking in wild swimming, an increasingly popular trend for fitness fanatics taking to beaches, lakes and rivers, typically in bracing British conditions. And it's already made its first UK appearance. 'Responding to the growing trend of combining invigorating cold-water swims with the revitalising warmth of a sauna, Ford Pro's Special Vehicle Team – the brains behind bespoke vehicle conversions – has transformed an all-electric E-Transit panel van into a fully functional, mobile sauna,' the car company says. The 'E-Sauna' is powered by the E-Transit's built-in Pro Power Onboard system, meaning it can be deployed virtually anywhere without the need for external power hook-ups. It even comes with Ford-branded gowns and slippers. The bodywork of the battery-powered van has also been given a special touch - a daring paint scheme mirroring the cedar-clad interior. Despite the masses of wood, additions of internal doors and the systems to turn the vehicle into a rolling sweat mobile likely to have added plenty of bulk, Ford claims it retains the standard E-Transit's 196 mile range. It says this is enough to make a return trip from the UK's furthest point from the sea – Coton in the Elms in Derbyshire, a mere 70 miles to the coast – without needing a recharge. The E-Transit Sauna Van has already been 'making waves' at Longside Lake in Surrey, where wild swimming enthusiasts have been putting it through its paces. Georgia Milgrave, a wild swimmer and weightlifter, praised the van's potential, saying: 'Sometimes you go somewhere and it would be really nice to have that paired up with it. The mobile element would be really helpful.' Triathlon enthusiast Alison Beck, added: 'I suffered a knee injury, but after a session in the cold water and the sauna I saw an immediate improvement. 'You can see significant benefits as well to your blood pressure, cardiovascular system, and general health and wellbeing.' The company said: 'Ford Pro's E-Transit Sauna Van is a testament to the company's commitment to innovation and its understanding of the evolving needs of its customers. 'By combining the practicality of the E-Transit with the growing popularity of wild swimming and sauna culture, Ford Pro has created a truly unique and desirable vehicle. 'So, if you're ready for a cool dip and the opportunity to warm up afterwards, keep your eyes peeled. 'The Ford E-Transit Sauna Van will be available at various locations around the UK this spring.' Want more stories like this from the Daily Mail? Visit our profile page and hit the follow button above for more of the news you need.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ford Looks to Capitalize on Auto Tariff Shopping Rush With Sweeping Discounts
Ford is offering its employee-pricing plan, known as the A Plan, to shoppers on most of its 2024 and 2025 models through June 2. The A Plan's widened eligibility is part of Ford's 'From America, For America' campaign launching as President Trump's new 25% tariff on all foreign auto imports takes effect. This campaign also includes a June 30 extension of its program, providing a free home charger and complimentary installation for purchases or leases on the automaker's electric Mustang Mach-E SUV, F-150 Lightning pickup truck, or E-Transit cargo van. Ford's discounts apply to its entire 2024 and 2025 model year inventory except for F-150 Raptors, 2025 Super Duty pickups, the Expedition, Lincoln Navigator, and Ford's fleet vehicles. The A-Plan savings program provides a discount of about $2,000 to $10,000 per vehicle. While Ford declined to provide a full list of discounts, a customer purchasing a $65,000 F-150 XLT would spend $55,000 with the A Plan, while a Ford Escape ST SUV would drop from $36,300 to $33,000, according to anonymous dealership information sourced by The Detroit Free had more unsold cars in its inventory in February than all brands except Jaguar, Mini, and Dodge, Cox Automotive reports. This data was measured by how many days an automaker would take to sell all of its inventory's vehicles. At the end of March, Ford had over 568,000 cars in its inventory, representing an 8% year-over-year increase. Rob Kaffl, Ford's director of US sales, told The Detroit Free Press: 'We're in a very competitive position in our stock. And the auto sector, and overall public, has seen a lot of uncertainty in the market right now especially in the automotive space. So we feel by providing this message in 'From America, For America,' we're providing some security.' On Tuesday, Ford's first quarter report revealed sales were down 1.3% from a year ago, but its electric vehicle (EV) sales increased 25.5% to represent 15% of its overall sales. Ford and General Motors (GM) are the two largest vehicle producers in the US, but GM imports 46% of its inventory sold in the US compared to Ford's 21%, according to Electrek. Today, Ford released a video highlighting its commitment to domestic auto manufacturing and sales as part of its From America, For America campaign. The video notes that Ford employs the most hourly auto workers in the US and assembles the most vehicles domestically. In February, think tank Anderson Economic Group predicted that costs for North America-assembled cars could increase anywhere from $4,000 to $12,000—with EVs facing $12,000-plus price hikes, CNN reports. Auto consumers are losing value in other areas, like complimentary maintenance plans. Hyundai, one of the most popular vehicle brands among US drivers, announced to its dealers that it would be ending its complimentary maintenance program covering routine maintenance on new car purchases for the first three years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. Shoppers priced out of the new vehicle market likely won't find much better value with used listings, as rising prices from tariffs are expected to increase pre-owned vehicle demand, further raising costs. While Ford's offering of its employee discount is aimed at clearing out its inventory surplus, the promotion's savings are substantial enough to warrant attention from shoppers, who appear to be buying cars at a higher rate to beat tariff price hikes. In March, the same month that Trump announced his administration's auto tariffs, Hyundai, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Mazda reported increased customer demand, according to Jalopnik.
USA Today
30-03-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
GM storing poor-selling Canadian-made electric vans on Michigan lot
GM storing poor-selling Canadian-made electric vans on Michigan lot Show Caption Hide Caption General Motors: History, innovation, and legacy Learn about the rich history and notable innovations of General Motors, from its founding in 1908 to its leadership in electric and autonomous vehicle technology. GM has struggled to sell its electric commercial vehicles in the U.S. CAMI Assembly took two weeks of previously planned downtime to align production schedules and balance inventor Before incentives, Ford's electric van is more than $20,000 cheaper than GM's General Motors is contending with a glut of slow-selling BrightDrop delivery vans, representing another flawed projection of EV sales and leaving hundreds of the vehicles parked on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border, the Detroit Free Press has learned. The Ingersoll, Ontario, plant that produces the all-electric vans just reopened after a two-week shutdown related to inventory. And GM is reportedly offering tens of thousands of dollars in rebates on the largest model. The struggles come less than a year after GM folded the commercial vans into its Chevrolet brand in a bid to boost its performance as GM tries to gain ground against competitors, including Ford and Rivian, in the electric van space. Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at Telemetry Insights, said the extended range of BrightDrop vans far surpasses its market competitors — but so does its price tag. Before incentives, the vehicles cost about $74,000. Ford's E-Transit van with extended battery range, for example, is $51,600 — more than $20,000 cheaper — even before applying incentives. 'There is a market for electric vans,' Abuelsamid said. 'Just not at that price point.' A Free Press photographer captured images last week of hundreds of vehicles lining a Flint, Michigan storage lot. Reuters published similar photos from CAMI Assembly plant in Ontario. General Motors innovation: GM partners with Silicon Valley chipmaker Nvidia on AI, self-driving The cause is low demand, according to a union official, as GM has struggled to sell its electric commercial vehicles in the U.S. Chevrolet, the brand under which BrightDrop is now sold in the U.S., is reportedly offering rebates that add up to a 40% discount on the larger van. GM produces BrightDrop vehicles at Canada's — and GM's — first full-scale all-electric vehicle manufacturing plant, which required massive investment to retool for EV production, including funding support from both governments. Heavy rebates offered this year CAMI Assembly closed during a scheduled two-week shutdown to 'align production schedules and balance inventory,' a GM spokesperson said in a statement. Production restarted last week. Representatives at Unifor Local 88 said the BrightDrop vehicles in Flint had always been slated for the U.S. market and have nothing to do with President Donald Trump's tariff threats. Their rapid appearance is due to refining border-crossing transportation to include shipments by rail. If the vehicles remain in Flint, one union official said, it's likely because dealers aren't buying them. BrightDrop's sales figures fall far short of its immediate competitors. GM sold 1,529 BrightDrop commercial electric vans in the U.S. last year, compared with Ford's 12,610 E-Transit vehicles and Rivian's 13,243 EDV. BrightDrop does, however, outsell Mercedes-Benz, which sold only 828 eSprinter vans in the U.S. last year. According to a bulletin that CarsDirect said was sent to dealers, 2025 BrightDrop incentives surged on Feb.24,. Through June 30, the BrightDrop 400 and BrightDrop 600 are available with $25,500 purchase rebates throughout the country as part of the 2025MY BrightDrop Consumer Cash Program. 'Based on our analysis, these savings appear to be stackable, bringing up to $31,000 in potential savings,' CarsDirect reported. General Motors said in a statement that it remains committed to the success of Chevrolet BrightDrop, 'and we remain optimistic about its future.' 'Customers continue to add BrightDrop products to their fleet thanks to its best-in-class available range and complete suite of driver safety solutions,' the statement said. The company this week hired a new vice president to oversee GM Envolve, its fleet and commercial business software platform. Ian Hucker, who was previously with GM, most recently was chief commercial officer for Hyundai Capital Europe. Since consolidating BrightDrop under the Chevrolet name, GM has more than 340 dealers selling the commercial vans, up from seven BrightDrop-specific dealers. Chevrolet BrightDrop has more than 250 unique commercial customers, the spokesperson also said, and 'we continue to earn new ones regularly.' Long range means big expense BrightDrop's superior range is what pushes prices above the others. Ford's vehicle has about 140 miles at full charge, and Rivian's is slightly higher. The BrightDrop van goes nearly double the distance, at 272 miles with maximum range battery pack and all-wheel drive. But industry experts say long range isn't enough enticement for buyers to forget about added cost. Ford CEO Jim Farley told Wall Street last month retail customers already demonstrate they won't pay a premium for large EVs, making them 'a really tough business case given the expense of the batteries.' Without naming names, Farley said some of Ford's competitors continue to bring expensive EVs to the market 'that are not going to work.' Cost concerns hit fleet customers more than a traditional retail customer, and paying more for a bigger battery may not seem prudent as work and delivery vans tend to travel fewer than 70 miles a day, Abuelsamid said. About 60% of Ford's fleet customers return to corporate lots or garages at night where they can recharge for the next day's driving, he said, making larger batteries with long ranges less important. Producing vans that can be configured to meet different customer needs is another driver of Ford's success. The E-Transit, for example, has 'more configurations than any other all-electric commercial van from a full-line automaker, offering two lengths, three roof heights, three body styles and up to 487 cubic feet of cargo volume,' according to the company's website. GM launched BrightDrop in 2021 as a wholly owned subsidiary with expectations its revenue would top $10 billion by 2030 with low-20% profit margins. BrightDrop offers two commercial electric delivery vehicles: the Zevo 600, which resembles a UPS-style truck, and a smaller EV410 midsize truck. The automaker made an $800 million investment to convert the CAMI Assembly to an EV factory to build the vans — a factory that previously made 300,000 Equinox vehicles per year, according to Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at Auto Forecast Solutions. Adding Chevrolet to the BrightDrop name hasn't improved sales, either. Automotive industry: GM car buyers most loyal in 2024; Ford wins pickup and SUV categories 'BrightDrop has to establish itself as a brand and a source of these products. It's a whole new network that you have to build, where Chevrolet is established and knows the market,' Fiorani said. Using electric vehicles for stop-and-go delivery usage is practical and amounts to significant cost savings from gas-powered vehicles. BrightDrop's EVs can save a fleet $10,000 to $12,000 per vehicle each year, the company said. BrightDrop CEO Travis Katz said in 2022 that the company expected to be making 50,000 trucks a year starting in 2025 and bring in 'a lot of revenue.' Katz left the company in late 2023 without specifying why as GM began reorganizing BrightDrop to function less independently and reduce costs. 'GM was going down the path that the corporation laid out for a market they anticipated to go heavily into electric vehicles. They are way ahead of the curve at the moment, and sales aren't meeting them there. Are GM executives anticipating 70,000 or 80,000 BrightDrop sales to break even, or can they work toward producing 10,000 a year?' Fiorani said. 'That's a much more practical number for this type of vehicle than the sales you see from the Express.' CAMI's future It's unclear what low BrightDrop sales in the U.S. could mean for the future of CAMI, a question complicated by possible loss of U.S. tax incentives and the potential for tariffs adding additional expense to these vehicles, Abuelsamid said. If Trump successfully reverses aspects of the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law on Aug. 16, 2022, to provide up to $7,500 in federal incentives for EVs through 2032, then costs for all EVs, not just fleet, will rise, and make importing these types of vehicles less enticing. Meanwhile, community members in Ingersoll expressed concern over job stability in the current landscape, with the plant's 1,300 employees comprising a significant chunk of the area's roughly 11,000 residents. 'CAMI is the biggest employer in town and thousands of spinoff jobs across the region are attached to its future,' read a report from the London Free Press ahead of the planned shutdown. The paper also reported auto and auto parts plants could shut down within a week of U.S. tariffs being imposed. Still, General Motors has deep ties to Canada that go back almost a century and would not move out of the country lightly. Dimitry Anastakis, the L.R. Wilson and R.J. Currie Chair in Canadian Business History at the University of Toronto, said that walking away from the major investments GM has made in the country just to start from scratch stateside would be lunacy. 'There was a feeling in the industry — and on Wall Street — that (Trump) wouldn't do this,' Anastakis said. 'No sane individual would bring down their own industry in this way. The uncertainty he is causing is going to impact Canada, but not in the way that he wants it. And it's going to hit Americans just as hard.' Move to Michigan? GM CFO Paul Jacobson hinted that the company's playbook to manage tariffs could entail moving production back to the U.S. in its earnings call and other recent public appearances. 'There's plays that we can do on that perspective to minimize the impact if there are tariffs either on Canada or Mexico,' Jacobson said. 'We're doing the planning and have several levers that we can pull.' Those plans weren't meant to move forward, he said, until a permanent level of tariffs seemed unavoidable. In total, Ingersoll-based companies in 2022 exported about $2.1 billion worth of goods. About $1.4 billion of that came from auto, food processing, defense, packaging and other advanced manufacturing, according to Lightcast, a labor market analytics company. Retooling a plant for EV production is costly and time-consuming, yet it's not as though GM doesn't have another option — and in Michigan, no less. 'They could conceivably build these at Factory Zero,' Abuelsamid said. Free Press staff writer Jamie LaReau contributed to this report. Jackie Charniga covers General Motors for the Free Press. Reach her at jcharniga@
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
GM storing poor-selling Canadian-made electric vans on Michigan lot
General Motors is contending with a glut of slow-selling BrightDrop delivery vans, representing another flawed projection of EV sales and leaving hundreds of the vehicles parked on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border, the Detroit Free Press has learned. The Ingersoll, Ontario, plant that produces the all-electric vans just reopened after a two-week shutdown related to inventory. And GM is reportedly offering tens of thousands of dollars in rebates on the largest model. The struggles come less than a year after GM folded the commercial vans into its Chevrolet brand in a bid to boost its performance as GM tries to gain ground against competitors, including Ford and Rivian, in the electric van space. Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at Telemetry Insights, said the extended range of BrightDrop vans far surpasses its market competitors — but so does its price tag. Before incentives, the vehicles cost about $74,000. Ford's E-Transit van with extended battery range, for example, is $51,600 — more than $20,000 cheaper — even before applying incentives. 'There is a market for electric vans,' Abuelsamid said. 'Just not at that price point.' A Free Press photographer captured images last week of hundreds of vehicles lining a Flint, Michigan storage lot. Reuters published similar photos from CAMI Assembly plant in Ontario. General Motors innovation: GM partners with Silicon Valley chipmaker Nvidia on AI, self-driving The cause is low demand, according to a union official, as GM has struggled to sell its electric commercial vehicles in the U.S. Chevrolet, the brand under which BrightDrop is now sold in the U.S., is reportedly offering rebates that add up to a 40% discount on the larger van. GM produces BrightDrop vehicles at Canada's — and GM's — first full-scale all-electric vehicle manufacturing plant, which required massive investment to retool for EV production, including funding support from both governments. CAMI Assembly closed during a scheduled two-week shutdown to 'align production schedules and balance inventory,' a GM spokesperson said in a statement. Production restarted last week. Representatives at Unifor Local 88 said the BrightDrop vehicles in Flint had always been slated for the U.S. market and have nothing to do with President Donald Trump's tariff threats. Their rapid appearance is due to refining border-crossing transportation to include shipments by rail. If the vehicles remain in Flint, one union official said, it's likely because dealers aren't buying them. BrightDrop's sales figures fall far short of its immediate competitors. GM sold 1,529 BrightDrop commercial electric vans in the U.S. last year, compared with Ford's 12,610 E-Transit vehicles and Rivian's 13,243 EDV. BrightDrop does, however, outsell Mercedes-Benz, which sold only 828 eSprinter vans in the U.S. last year. According to a bulletin that CarsDirect said was sent to dealers, 2025 BrightDrop incentives surged on Feb.24,. Through June 30, the BrightDrop 400 and BrightDrop 600 are available with $25,500 purchase rebates throughout the country as part of the 2025MY BrightDrop Consumer Cash Program. 'Based on our analysis, these savings appear to be stackable, bringing up to $31,000 in potential savings,' CarsDirect reported. General Motors said in a statement that it remains committed to the success of Chevrolet BrightDrop, 'and we remain optimistic about its future.' 'Customers continue to add BrightDrop products to their fleet thanks to its best-in-class available range and complete suite of driver safety solutions,' the statement said. The company this week hired a new vice president to oversee GM Envolve, its fleet and commercial business software platform. Ian Hucker, who was previously with GM, most recently was chief commercial officer for Hyundai Capital Europe. Since consolidating BrightDrop under the Chevrolet name, GM has more than 340 dealers selling the commercial vans, up from seven BrightDrop-specific dealers. Chevrolet BrightDrop has more than 250 unique commercial customers, the spokesperson also said, and 'we continue to earn new ones regularly.' BrightDrop's superior range is what pushes prices above the others. Ford's vehicle has about 140 miles at full charge, and Rivian's is slightly higher. The BrightDrop van goes nearly double the distance, at 272 miles with maximum range battery pack and all-wheel drive. But industry experts say long range isn't enough enticement for buyers to forget about added cost. Ford CEO Jim Farley told Wall Street last month retail customers already demonstrate they won't pay a premium for large EVs, making them 'a really tough business case given the expense of the batteries.' Without naming names, Farley said some of Ford's competitors continue to bring expensive EVs to the market 'that are not going to work.' Cost concerns hit fleet customers more than a traditional retail customer, and paying more for a bigger battery may not seem prudent as work and delivery vans tend to travel fewer than 70 miles a day, Abuelsamid said. About 60% of Ford's fleet customers return to corporate lots or garages at night where they can recharge for the next day's driving, he said, making larger batteries with long ranges less important. Producing vans that can be configured to meet different customer needs is another driver of Ford's success. The E-Transit, for example, has 'more configurations than any other all-electric commercial van from a full-line automaker, offering two lengths, three roof heights, three body styles and up to 487 cubic feet of cargo volume,' according to the company's website. GM launched BrightDrop in 2021 as a wholly owned subsidiary with expectations its revenue would top $10 billion by 2030 with low-20% profit margins. BrightDrop offers two commercial electric delivery vehicles: the Zevo 600, which resembles a UPS-style truck, and a smaller EV410 midsize truck. The automaker made an $800 million investment to convert the CAMI Assembly to an EV factory to build the vans — a factory that previously made 300,000 Equinox vehicles per year, according to Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at Auto Forecast Solutions. Adding Chevrolet to the BrightDrop name hasn't improved sales, either. Automotive industry: GM car buyers most loyal in 2024; Ford wins pickup and SUV categories 'BrightDrop has to establish itself as a brand and a source of these products. It's a whole new network that you have to build, where Chevrolet is established and knows the market,' Fiorani said. Using electric vehicles for stop-and-go delivery usage is practical and amounts to significant cost savings from gas-powered vehicles. BrightDrop's EVs can save a fleet $10,000 to $12,000 per vehicle each year, the company said. BrightDrop CEO Travis Katz said in 2022 that the company expected to be making 50,000 trucks a year starting in 2025 and bring in 'a lot of revenue.' Katz left the company in late 2023 without specifying why as GM began reorganizing BrightDrop to function less independently and reduce costs. 'GM was going down the path that the corporation laid out for a market they anticipated to go heavily into electric vehicles. They are way ahead of the curve at the moment, and sales aren't meeting them there. Are GM executives anticipating 70,000 or 80,000 BrightDrop sales to break even, or can they work toward producing 10,000 a year?' Fiorani said. 'That's a much more practical number for this type of vehicle than the sales you see from the Express.' It's unclear what low BrightDrop sales in the U.S. could mean for the future of CAMI, a question complicated by possible loss of U.S. tax incentives and the potential for tariffs adding additional expense to these vehicles, Abuelsamid said. If Trump successfully reverses aspects of the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law on Aug. 16, 2022, to provide up to $7,500 in federal incentives for EVs through 2032, then costs for all EVs, not just fleet, will rise, and make importing these types of vehicles less enticing. Meanwhile, community members in Ingersoll expressed concern over job stability in the current landscape, with the plant's 1,300 employees comprising a significant chunk of the area's roughly 11,000 residents. 'CAMI is the biggest employer in town and thousands of spinoff jobs across the region are attached to its future,' read a report from the London Free Press ahead of the planned shutdown. The paper also reported auto and auto parts plants could shut down within a week of U.S. tariffs being imposed. Still, General Motors has deep ties to Canada that go back almost a century and would not move out of the country lightly. Dimitry Anastakis, the L.R. Wilson and R.J. Currie Chair in Canadian Business History at the University of Toronto, said that walking away from the major investments GM has made in the country just to start from scratch stateside would be lunacy. 'There was a feeling in the industry — and on Wall Street — that (Trump) wouldn't do this,' Anastakis said. 'No sane individual would bring down their own industry in this way. The uncertainty he is causing is going to impact Canada, but not in the way that he wants it. And it's going to hit Americans just as hard.' GM CFO Paul Jacobson hinted that the company's playbook to manage tariffs could entail moving production back to the U.S. in its earnings call and other recent public appearances. 'There's plays that we can do on that perspective to minimize the impact if there are tariffs either on Canada or Mexico,' Jacobson said. 'We're doing the planning and have several levers that we can pull.' Those plans weren't meant to move forward, he said, until a permanent level of tariffs seemed unavoidable. In total, Ingersoll-based companies in 2022 exported about $2.1 billion worth of goods. About $1.4 billion of that came from auto, food processing, defense, packaging and other advanced manufacturing, according to Lightcast, a labor market analytics company. Retooling a plant for EV production is costly and time-consuming, yet it's not as though GM doesn't have another option — and in Michigan, no less. 'They could conceivably build these at Factory Zero,' Abuelsamid said. Free Press staff writer Jamie LaReau contributed to this report. Jackie Charniga covers General Motors for the Free Press. Reach her at jcharniga@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GM storing poor-selling Canadian-made electric vans on Michigan lot
