May 08, 2015
Greg Gardner

General Motors declared that the auto industry's future is electric just as Americans' rekindled demand for pickup trucks, SUVs and crossovers are driving the bulk of the automaker's profits.

"The company believes the future is electric, with billions (of dollars) of investment to support an all-in-house approach to the development and manufacturing of electrified vehicles," GM said in its annual sustainability report released today.

GM has 180,834 electrified vehicles on U.S. roads, and it is preparing to launch the second generation of the Chevrolet Volt. Next year it will introduce an all-electric Chevrolet Bolt that will be able to travel 200 miles between charges and be priced at about $30,000 after state and federal tax incentives.

But Chevrolet and GMC sold 235,927 Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks in the first four months of this year alone. Of $5.4 billion GM is investing in its 40 U.S. factories over the next four years, $1.2 billion, or more than 20%, is targeted for expansion of the Arlington, Texas assembly plant that will produce nearly 300,000 fullsize SUVs this year.

Source
Detroit Free Press