GM is investing in its Lansing Delta Township plant to build hybrids, and the clues point to the Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave getting electrified power around 2028.
General Motors has built a surprisingly wide range of hybrids over the past 20-ish years. Electric-enhanced powertrains have shown up in everything from the long-defunct Saturn Vue to the Cadillac Escalade and even the Corvette. But none of them really gained significant market traction the way other automakers’ hybrids have.
But in 2026, hybrid sales have taken off. They've grabbed 16 percent market share in the U.S., and Toyota, Honda, Kia, Hyundai, and, to a much lesser degree, Ford, are benefiting. GM, on the other hand, only has the Corvette Grand Sport X and ZR1-X hybrids in the U.S. That finally looks set to change.
GM has long sold hybrids and plug-in hybrids in China, but it opted not to bring that tech here. In 2024, GM announced plans to bring hybrids back to its American lineup, but didn't say anything else about it until recently.
GM has not yet said what kind of hybrid system its future mainstream models will use, so see why parallel, series, power-split, and other hybrid layouts can behave very differently ➜
Some folks expected the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain to go hybrid first to take on the market-leading Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. That doesn’t currently seem to be the case, at least for now. Instead, GM announced that it's investing an undisclosed amount in its Lansing Delta Township assembly plant in Michigan to produce hybrid vehicles.
GM hasn't specified which hybrids Lansing will produce. But since the plant opened 20 years ago, it has built GM's large three-row crossovers, which currently include the Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave. Meanwhile, GM is moving Equinox production from Mexico to its Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas by 2027.
Several other interesting moves at GM point to the large crossovers getting some electrification technology. The current generation debuted in 2024, and most vehicles get a mid-cycle update by at least their fourth year on the market. For these three, that's 2028.
At last week’s GM Forward tech event in New York, GM announced that its new central compute architecture will come to those large crossovers, alongside its full-size trucks and SUVs and fourth-generation EVs. That architecture debuts in 2028. If the Traverse, Acadia, and Enclave are getting a major update around that time, it's the perfect opportunity to also add electrification to the mix.
The same three-row crossover family is also slated to receive GM’s next-generation computing architecture after its 2028 Escalade IQ debut, so see how GM is rebuilding its future vehicles around centralized compute, AI, and new EV hardware ➜
GM remains committed to EVs and last week announced plans for its fourth-generation electric models. Some executives have said that adding another powertrain type would add significant cost. But EV sales are holding at about 6 percent of the U.S. market, while hybrid sales keep growing. Not adding a hybrid option could be a lost opportunity, especially against Toyota.
So far this year, hybrids and plug-in hybrids account for about 56 percent of Toyota's U.S. sales, led by the RAV4 and Camry, which are now exclusively hybrid models. A hybrid Equinox would make sense, but larger crossovers carry higher profit margins, so they can absorb a hybrid's added cost more easily than smaller models.
The competition is growing, too. The Kia Telluride, Hyundai Palisade, and Toyota Grand Highlander already offer hybrids, and the Nissan Pathfinder and Honda Pilot should get them by about 2028. Updating the Traverse, Acadia, and Enclave at the same time might be a case of better late than never.
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Industry UpdatesFrom Audi's new plug-in models to Nissan's e-Power system, automakers are expanding their hybrid offers to meet the demand for efficient vehicles.
AnnouncementsLet’s face it, buying and owning a hybrid vehicle is easy for those who want to get better fuel economy but aren’t ready to get an all-electric vehicle. After all, with a hybrid, you don’t have to do anything different from owning a regular gasoline-powered car.
AnnouncementsStrong consumer demand is leading the latest hybrid car pivot toward more fuel-efficient vehicles. Major automakers such as Honda and Toyota are refocusing their strategies, introducing exciting new models such as the Honda Civic Hybrid and Toyota’s strong hybrid lineup including advanced components such as Toyota’s e-Axles.
