He was one of the early 19th century the first foreign manufacturers spread on the Old Continent: General Motors. With its brands Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Cadillac or even LaSalle, GM locally assembled models in Europe, at its plant in Bienne, Switzerland. This was the case from 1936 to 1972, when the factory closed its doors. After this date General Motors distributed models in Europe only in small quantities. But it must be said that the group was bought Opel/Vauxhall in 1929, so that these brands became its official European subsidiaries. After trying to enter again 2005 Chevy, it returned in 2013, leaving the brand to be replaced by Opel/Vauxhall. After reselling them to PSA in 2018 General Motors operations in Europe are very weak…

A new electrical challenge

There is, however, one country where his rule is not weakening: the United States, of course! In 2022, General Motors returned to Toyota its title, stolen a year earlier from the first manufacturer in the country. (by sales volume). GM continues to expand its range, and a new challenge awaits: electric. The energy mutation takes place in Uncle Sam’s country later than in Europe. Ford was the first convert your best-selling F-150 pickup truck (it was the first model sold in the territory in 2022) to fully electric. General Motors, which was the predecessor to the Bolt (and the EV1 since the late 90s), is starting to hit the ground running. her Silverado went into fashion for electric cars, and SUVs spread. Equinox AND Blazer for Chevy, Hummer EV for GMC, Lyrics AND Heavenly for Cadillac.

1,000 horsepower like a Hummer EV?

Let’s talk Cadillac, another one of its historic models is about to go electric… Escalade, this giant SUV full sizewhich Americans love ! This technical cousin of the Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban and GMC Yukon has been around since 1998 and is now in his 5^d generation. Traditionally, he’s more into big Duramax diesels and singing V8s than batteries and Volts.

However, General Motors has confirmed that an electric version of its luxury behemoth is in the works. better, it will be presented by the end of 2023. We still don’t know much about him. It should be relied on GM’s Ultium platform, on which the GMC Hummer EV is already based. It should use its electrical architecture: three motors for total power 1000 horsepower ! Currently, only its name is known: Escalade iQ, Cadillac’s new acronym for its electric models. Will it be legal to carry the Escalade name?