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General Motors plans to invest in its Lansing Delta Township Assembly plant to handle future production of hybrid-electric vehicles, the latest move by the U.S. automaker to claw back market share by appealing to the shifting tastes of consumers. The company said on Tuesday that it plans to invest more than $2 billion over the next several years in the broader Lansing region, an amount that includes $1.25 billion to prepare the assembly plant for “future vehicle production.” The company said it is working with the U.S. Department of Energy to restructure a previously awarded Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grant and direct those funds to future hybrid production at the Lansing factory. The company was awarded $500 million under the Biden administration to support converting a different factory in Lansing to produce electric vehicles, including hybrid, battery-electric, plug-in electric hybrid, and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. Those funds were never released, according to GM. Today, GM assembles the gas-powered Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, and GMC Acadia at the Lansing Delta Township factory, which produced a record 291,000 vehicles in 2025. GM didn’t provide specifics on when it would begin producing and selling hybrid vehicles. But insiders told TechCrunch to expect hybrids across multiple brands rather than a single vehicle line. A Reuters report, citing anonymous sources, said the company plans to build hybrid versions of the Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave, and GMC Acadia at the factory. Hybrids have become increasingly popular, thanks in part to rising gas prices. Customers also have more choices than ever before, with most automakers offering a range of hybrid and plug-in hybrid models. Toyota is the U.S. market leader in hybrid sales, followed by Honda. Ford has also gained considerable market share in hybrid sales in the past two years, selling some 228,000 hybrids in 2025. But GM has been slow to adopt hybrids. Until recently, the company’s only electric-hybrid vehicle was the Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray, which launched as a 2024 model. (GM sold 2,444 of those vehicles last year.) The E-Ray has since been discontinued; GM began deliveries of the hybrid Corvette ZR1X in March and next year will launch a hybrid Corvette Grand Sport X. GM eschewed hybrids in favor of battery-electric vehicles. The automaker invested billions of dollars to shift its gas-powered portfolio to an all-electric one. That strategy has changed under the Trump administration with the end of the federal EV tax credit and slower-than-expected demand. GM hasn’t abandoned EVs completely, though it has seen EV sales fall year-over-year. The company still sells numerous battery-electric vehicles across its brands, including the Chevrolet Equinox EV, Blazer EV, and Cadillac Escalade IQ. GM said Tuesday it will share specific details on its hybrid vehicle production plans closer to launch.
document fetched 2026-10-28 02:51 · canonical https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/27/gm-is-embracing-hybrids-now