GM'S FULL SIZE FUTURE

     Making the change from combustion engine to electric cost money, the best way to get that money? Sell cars. GM's full size lineup are doing just that. GM is hoping to strengthen it's 54% control on the full size non-luxury SUV market with the redesign of the 2021 Suburban and Tahoe. Keeping these numbers up is going to give them the revenue to "... eventually electrify the entire portfolio," Barry Engle, president of GM North America, despite electric cars only making up 1.7% of the U.S. market in 2019.Along with the redesign of the Tahoe and the Suburban, the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL and the Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV are expected to drop sometime in 2020. 

     Fueling the fires of the transition is joint venture with South Korean battery-maker LG Chem investing a combined $2.3 million. With this joint venture comes a battery cell assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio. This comes just over a year after Gm closed its manufacturing plant in Lordstown laying off 1,400 workers. Thanks GM! 

     Despite the rising sales of the Ford Expedition and the redesign of the Lincoln Navigator GM still holds 47% full-size SUV market. To keep the Tahoe and the Suburban on top, GM finally added independent rear suspension that also helped free up some cargo space in the back. Following behind the competition GM is also bringing Air Ride Adaptive Suspension system and Magnetic Ride Control to both of these vehicles. Maintaining their lead is crucial as they slowly lose sales in the pickup truck department to Ram. No prices are announced yet but they will come in 6 different trim levels allowing competitive pricing. I think GM is going in the right direction despite never being able to drive one of these in any of the cities i frequent. Do you like the redesign?

-Larry, Head of Underwater Basket Weaving