Dealers to GM: We Want Hybrids

livemint.com:

Some influential dealers are pressing General Motors to introduce hybrid models, worried they risk losing customers who aren’t ready to make the switch to fully electric cars. Dealers who serve on advisory committees to the automaker have urged executives in several recent meetings to add hybrids to GM’s lineup, according to people involved in the discussions. GM has focused on fully electric cars in recent years and largely bypassed hybrids, which pair an internal combustion engine with a small battery and electric motor to boost fuel efficiency.

The dealers said they expressed concern that more customers are looking for a middle ground between conventional gas-engine cars and EVs, which are more expensive and require regular charging. GM executives have acknowledged the dealers’ views but haven’t made any commitments to future hybrid options, the people said. Automakers often solicit input from dealers on vehicle planning but still typically keep the details of future models under wraps.

A GM spokesman declined to comment. The dealers’ pleas for the company to consider adding hybrid models show another dimension of the pressure facing GM Chief Executive Mary Barra as aspects of her EV push stall. Making such a move would mark a major strategic reversal for GM, which unlike many of its rivals, went all-in on EVs and largely sat out the hybrid market, which executives viewed as an unnecessary interim step.

Last month, Barra didn’t rule out the prospect of introducing hybrid models in the U.S. when asked about it during an event in Detroit, noting that GM sells them in China. “I still believe in the endgame, that you want to move to EVs as quickly as you can," she said.