Media Moves

GM, Volkswagen to ditch hybrid vehicles

August 12, 2019

Posted by Yvonne Zacharias

General Motors and Volkswagen have put the brakes on hybrid vehicles, saying they see no future for them in their U.S. line-ups, reports the Wall Street Journal. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/gm-volkswagen-say-goodbye-to-hybrid-vehicles-11565602200)

However, Toyota and Ford plan to keep hybrids as a core part of their offerings, showing a split in the industry.

Volkswagen Group of America boss Michael Horn has said,” For America, plug-in hybrids don’t make a lot of sense for the upstream emissions, and they’re just not incentivized by tax schemes.” (https://driving.ca/volkswagen/auto-news/news/no-vw-plug-in-hybrids-planned-for-north-america?)

General Motors revealed earlier this year it plans to move away from hybrids and focus more on all-electric vehicles. (https://electrek.co/2019/01/15/gm-moving-away-hybrids-focus-all-electric/)

It is part of a major restructuring that will involve doubling “doubling” the company’s investment in electric and self-driving cars. (https://electrek.co/2018/11/26/gm-chevy-volt-factory-shutdown-electric-investmet/)

“GM now intends to prioritize future vehicle investments in its next-generation battery-electric architectures,” said a company statement.

CEO Mary Barra said that it would result in doubling the company’s investment in electric vehicles and self-driving technology.

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