General Motors' CEO looks ahead to 2026 and beyond: EVs for sure, hybrids... maybe?

Inside the new Hudson's Detroit GM headquarters

While it would have been fantastic to have General Motors unveil a new product or make a significant announcement at its hometown event, the Detroit Auto Show, the media got the next best thing: a fireside chat with CEO Mary Barra at the company’s new headquarters in Hudson’s Detroit. I’m told that, in the past, this event was held in December at the legendary Gem Theatre and included a Q&A session. The timing and location were shifted to accommodate the new headquarters, and Monday was move-in day for quite a few employees. The lack of Q&A—even the ability to pre-submit questions, which could (of course) be filtered out beforehand—was disappointing; after all, isn’t one of the primary functions of a journalist to ask questions?

Getting ready for the event, here are two things I thought we might hear about:

Affordable EVs

Background: In October, GM President Mark Reuss confirmed a new family of affordable EVs beyond the “limited time only” Bolt that is just hitting dealers now. He suggested that these vehicles would have both a different architecture than the Bolt’s aging platform and a new battery chemistry. If, in fact, it’s a truly different (e.g., new) architecture, the timing is probably a couple of years out. But take this news with a grain of salt; what was originally announced as a "next generation” Bolt turned out to be a minor facelift with a new interior and powertrain overhaul, and plenty of carryover hardware.

What we heard: Although Barra was asked about the affordability issue (and did mention the updated Bolt briefly), she didn’t reference this initiative at all. This seemed like a missed opportunity. If it’s happening, it must be sufficiently further out from Ford’s Universal EV Platform (due next year) that it’s too early to share any information.

Plug-in hybrids

Background: For years, GM insisted (and rightfully so) that hybrids were extremely complex, essentially requiring an automaker to develop two powertrains for one vehicle—hence the initial (and now likely scrapped) goal to skip over hybrids in favor of an all-EV light-duty portfolio by 2035. In May 2024, Barra announced that a PHEV would launch in North America in 2027. Well… that’s right around the corner, and there hasn’t been any additional news on which products or market segments might be affected, nor has any intrepid spy photographer captured a vehicle on test. If this is still the plan—and it might not be, given recent changes to fuel economy standards—we are overdue for some news.

What we heard: Plug-in hybrids are apparently being investigated—as are non-plug-in hybrids (as originally popularized by Toyota’s Prius). Barra noted the regulatory changes announced last year were even more significant than the tariffs, and that’s clearly allowed all automakers to re-evaluate their strategy for plug-in vehicles. She also noted that most plug-in hybrid owners don’t plug in anyway—a hotly debated topic these days. But the lack of any sort of clear hybrid strategy still leaves GM behind just about every other automaker, especially in the lucrative full-size pickup and luxury markets, where every other major competitor offers some form of electrified ICE power.

The 45-minute chat, led by Automotive Press Association president Kalea Hall, touched on a wide variety of additional topics…

• The vision of an all-EV portfolio is still there, but there’s no specific target; Barra notes that she (like just about every other global automaker) made some rather aggressive predictions about automated driving around 2016, and so won’t be going down that road with EVs. She did echo comments from Lucid CEO Marc Winterhoff in promoting the idea that EV technology is, overall, simply better than ICE, and that selling it based solely on environmental reasons won’t work. Curiously, she expressed surprise at other OEMs who have pulled back on their EV plans, when her own company announced a $6 billion writedown reflecting a reduction in EV investment and payments to suppliers tied to cancelled contracts. GM isn’t dropping any of its current EV portfolio, but it’s not clear if any future programs were cancelled or delayed.

• When asked about the threat of Chinese EVs, Barra did mention the uneven playing field (e.g., government support provided to Chinese automakers) but did not seem to view them as much of a threat as other leading automotive figures. Given the advances in technology and speed-to-market demonstrated by the Chinese, one might have expected to hear more about improvements to the product development process, enabling a quicker response with more customer-relevant technology.

• Speaking of China, Barra noted that GM increased its share in China last year—and, yes, I have to admit the new Buicks (that we’ll unfortunately never see here) are quite technologically impressive—but didn’t reference the China restructuring that resulted in a $1.1 billion writedown. Of course, with Chinese automakers becoming increasingly competent, just about every legacy automaker is suffering to some extent in China, so GM is certainly not alone in this regard.

• AI is showing up on the plant floor (to improve quality) and in the vehicle (Google’s Gemini) and is being looked at for a variety of applications across the business. However, with the departure of Chief AI Officer Barak Turovsky late last year after only eight months, it’s not clear if there’s a single point person with a keen focus on AI opportunities within the company.

• I was surprised when Kalea brought up the new “performance culture”, a/k/a the “forced ranking” that GM announced 18 months ago. I wasn’t surprised when Barra defended it, but my admittedly anecdotal evidence (from both current employees who have reached out for advice and former colleagues) suggests it may not be working as intended. This GM subreddit is filled with unfortunate stories; I personally don’t believe forcing an executive (who may have worked years to build a world-class team) to identify 5% of their team who “do not meet expectations” can yield the “fail fast, fail forward” culture emblematic of truly innovative companies.

Is there reason to be optimistic for 2026? Yes; although whatever regulatory and policy changes are forthcoming remain a mystery, GM has a strong truck portfolio, an improving Cadillac brand, growing U.S. market share, an enviable stock price, a broad and competent portfolio of EVs, a more coordinated approach to automated driving rollout (leveraging the success of SuperCruise) and several appealing and relatively affordable entries at the low end.

But there are some yellow flags to watch out for:

• Electrified ICE competition in the full-size truck and SUV market, as well as the luxury market

• How to build EV volume (currently averaging about 14,000 units per entry in the US)

• Cadillac’s SUV-heavy portfolio (while luxury brand leaders are still offering a choice of cars

Clearly, Barra & co. have their work cut out for 2026—and she says she’s having fun, so don’t expect an exit any time soon.