After selling off Opel and Vauxhall, shuttering Holden, and shrinking its global footprint overall, General Motors is now rolling out electric vehicles (EVs) to expand once again – and bespoke models for different markets could be part of this plan.
“We craft cars that we don’t have in the US, but we have them in other markets,” General Motors Europe president and managing director Pere Brugal told Autocar.
“We have cars that are specific for the South America region, and we can have cars that are more of an Asia or China portfolio.
“Not all of them are available in the US, and not everything which is available in the US is available for China customers or European customers.
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Above: Buick GL8
“In the future, can it be that [we create a] car that is [just] for Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan or Korea? Maybe it can be.”
While GM has sold off (Opel, Vauxhall, its Thai plant) or closed various operations (GM India, Holden), it has retained manufacturing and R&D facilities in key markets like South Korea, Latin America and China.
It also continues to build and develop vehicles specifically for China and for emerging markets like Latin America.
China, for example, has the Buick GL8 people mover and Verano Pro sedan, the Cadillac GT4 crossover SUV and CT6 sedan, as well as a trio of EVs in the Chevrolet Menlo and Buick Velite 6 wagons and the Buick Electra E5 SUV.
Above: Buick Electra L7
Despite mounting losses in China, GM is continuing to invest in the world’s largest auto market, where Electra is now a sub-brand of Buick selling plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles.
These aren’t the only vehicles GM builds for global markets but doesn’t sell in its home market.
It has a wide range of models developed specifically for Latin America, which include the small Chevrolet Onix hatch and sedan, the unibody Montana ute, and the Spin people mover.
Other models the US misses out on include the Chevrolet Monza sedan and Tracker crossover SUV.
Above: Chevrolet Montana
GM axed Holden in 2020, but it has maintained a presence in Australia through its GM Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) division and, more recently, through the Cadillac luxury brand.
GMSV and Cadillac vehicles are sold through two different retail networks, and offer a mix of factory right-hand drive models (Cadillac Lyriq, Chevrolet Corvette) and vehicles remanufactured locally in right-hand drive (Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Silverado HD, GMC Yukon).
Unlike most of the vehicles sold by the now-defunct Holden brand, both GMSV and Cadillac are focused on more expensive, lower-volume models, and GM no longer insists on having a full line of mainstream offerings.
Additionally, none of these GM models sold here are developed exclusively for Australia – the days of locally engineered and built Holdens are long over.
Above: Chevrolet Menlo
Likewise, in Europe – where Mr Brugal is the company’s boss – GM focuses on higher-end vehicles. It remains to be seen whether the US automaker will once again look to compete in more mainstream segments there, as it did with Opel – before it was sold to Groupe PSA in 2017 – or through Chevrolet, which used to sell a range of Korean-built mass-market models.
GM has had a key global focus with the Cadillac brand, engineering a range of electric SUVs for sale across myriad left- and right-hand drive markets around the world including a growing number in Europe.
If GM wants to expand its presence in Europe, more affordable EVs – almost certainly under a different brand – would likely be on the agenda.
Mr Brugal said different regulations between the US and Europe impact whether vehicles built in the former can be sold in the latter.
“If the regulations between the US and Europe harmonise, it will make our life easier,” he told Autocar. “We will bring a lot of benefit to the final customer, because that will increase the range of options.”