Here Are the Cars GM Killed Today With Its Global Restructuring Plan

To accelerate the future, General Motors is cutting dead weight in the present.
www.thedrive.com

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General Motors dropped a bombshell on Monday, announcing production changes of a magnitude not seen since Ford said it was killing all of its cars except the Mustang in favor of trucks and SUVs. The restructuring involves five plant shutdowns, major layoffs, and a host of model discontinuations. It’s all part of GM’s plan to invest in future technologies and come out with 20 new all-electric vehicles by 2023. Those EVs need manufacturing space, which means some cars need to be put out to pasture to make room.

The cars listed below are the ones currently built in the plants slated for closure, and General Motors has independently confirmed some of their fates. Others might get a second chance somewhere else, but it seems likely that we’ve seen the last of these nameplates for a while. Here are the models GM is killing for the North American market.

Chevrolet Volt

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Chevrolet

This is the one that we’re the surest is going away and not coming back. We’ve been hearing rumors of the Volt’s discontinuation due to slow sales for a while, and this tweet from a Reuters reporter essentially confirms it. Still, GM won’t come out and say that the Volt is officially, completely dead, raising the possibility that the name could return in the electric-powered future.

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Chevrolet Impala

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Chevrolet

Here’s another one that’s not a big surprise. The Chevy Impala, once an American car icon, will likely be discontinued technically for the third time. Its first run was from 1958-1985, then it briefly came back in the form of the B-body Impala SS from 1994-1996, then again as a front-wheel-drive sedan in 2000. Production will end next June when the Detroit/Hamtramck plant shuts down. The current-gen Impala is a nice sedan, but it won’t be missed by many.

Buick LaCrosse

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Buick

Speaking of nice sedans that no one will miss, the Buick LaCrosse, which shares a platform with the Impala, is also done in America. This would mark the end of an era for Buick as a manufacturer of big, comfy sedans for grandpa—which it has always done pretty well, to Buick’s credit. The LaCrosse will still be produced and remain on sale in China, where it’s much more popular as a luxury “import.”

Cadillac XTS

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Cadillac

Completing the trinity of big front-drive GM sedans is the Cadillac XTS which, you guessed it, rides on the same platform as the Impala and the LaCrosse. The XTS has spent its life as little more than an airport shuttle car, and outside of fleet customers we don’t think many people will even notice this one’s missing. Production will carry on through most of 2019 as the Oshawa Assembly plant in Canada winds down.

Chevrolet Cruze (and Hatchback)

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Chevrolet

When Chevy came out with the Cruze in the late 2000s to replace the Cobalt, it was significant for being a compact Chevrolet that was actually pretty good, and the car slowly evolved to be mostly competitive with the Japanese titans. We hope you didn’t grow too fond of it, or get too used to the recently-released hatchback, because production of both will end when the Lordstown, Ohio assembly plant goes offline next year.

Cadillac CT6

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Cadillac

This one we’re pretty bummed about. The Cadillac CT6 hasn’t been Cadillac’s flagship sedan for very long, but its brief life saw the introduction of the fantastic Super Cruise semi-autonomous system, billed as the first true hands-free highway driving experience. GM’s decision to pull the CT6 from the North American market (it too will live on in China) made us wonder about the fate of the recently-announced CT6-V and its all-new 550-hp Blackwing twin-turbo V8, but thankfully we can confirm it will still launch as scheduled as a final-year special. Not the weirdest business decision GM has ever made.

Previous-Generation Chevrolet Silverado

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Chevrolet

The sun will explode before Chevy discontinues the Silverado, but the previous-gen Silverado is still being built at the Oshawa, Ontario plant in Canada. That’s going to end next year, which isn’t surprising considering production and sales of the new model are well underway.