With the advances in solid state battery technology and the design changes that have recently been discovered and are under heavy testing like from XNRGI 

I see a couple sedans still in the Chevrolet portfolio, but EV focused.

Yes it is happening again.  Just like when affordable RWD sedans (mostly) disappeared after 1987.  Now it is virtually all affordable FWD sedans that are disappearing into the ether.  This is really sad, but it seems few people actually WANT to buy a FWD sedan when they want a FWD crossover instead.

3 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

Yes it is happening again.  Just like when affordable RWD sedans (mostly) disappeared after 1987.  Now it is virtually all affordable FWD sedans that are disappearing into the ether.  This is really sad, but it seems few people actually WANT to buy a FWD sedan when they want a FWD crossover instead.

Seems very short-sighted thinking on the Detroit 3's part.  I don't see the Japanese and Korean companies getting out of the sedan market.  When the CUV/SUV fad fades, the Detroit 3 are going to be hurting due their usual short-sighted thinking...

19 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Seems very short-sighted thinking on the Detroit 3's part.  I don't see the Japanese and Korean companies getting out of the sedan market.  When the CUV/SUV fad fades, the Detroit 3 are going to be hurting due their usual short-sighted thinking...

by the time the SUV/CUV fad fades, the market will have shifted more to EVs and autonomous vehicles... and who know what those will look like. 

Rolling toasters probably. 

Quote

When the CUV/SUV fad fades…

That's what 'they' said about pickups… in 1970.

Hyundai was 100% cars when it arrived here, it's now only 56% cars (by volume YTD) and that number has been slipping for years (both at hyundai/kia and industry-wide). CUVs / SUVs are firmly-established; calling them a 'fad' ignores decades of consumer data.

Objectively speaking, the industry at large would be best served morphing a combination of the family sedan and the CUV (which is already the same underneath). All the brands have too many physically different models- with a morphed FutureKar, developmental costs would come way down and perhaps -just perhaps- some degree of control on runaway prices could be realized.  

So Ford and GM’s game plan is to put everything into pickups, SUVs and 1 sports car each, after giving up on minivans and sedans.  Meanwhile the Asian car companies are stealing crossover/SUV business off Ford and GM and Toyota has new trucks coming and Hyundai and Kia are doing pickups.  You can only retreat for so long until you run out of places to retreat to.

Minivans are all but dead- there were over a dozen now there's 3-4. Sedans are slipping every single year; the pie anyone is stealing from is smaller every year.

IF a major industry downturn is looming (we'll see), thinning sedan offerings beforehand is probably a smart move. Eventually, you run out of places to fleet/fire sales sedans to.

12 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

So Ford and GM’s game plan is to put everything into pickups, SUVs and 1 sports car each, after giving up on minivans and sedans.  Meanwhile the Asian car companies are stealing crossover/SUV business off Ford and GM and Toyota has new trucks coming and Hyundai and Kia are doing pickups.  You can only retreat for so long until you run out of places to retreat to.

I mean Ford has the Mustang and GT and Chevy has the Camaro and Corvette.. But who's counting? 

And Caddy has or will have CT variants that are sports cars. 

1 hour ago, Robert Hall said:

Seems very short-sighted thinking on the Detroit 3's part.  I don't see the Japanese and Korean companies getting out of the sedan market.  When the CUV/SUV fad fades, the Detroit 3 are going to be hurting due their usual short-sighted thinking...

I would disagree, unlike Asian countries, excluding China, small auto's and cars being the focus will always have a place as SUV/CUV are just too big and expensive. Yet for America, China and Europe, I think we will see a much longer life of the SUV/CUV sticking around. I see the Detroit 3 building some cars and might just be hybrid  / electric only for select markets, but the bulk of their global auto's will be SUV/CUV I think.

An Encore is 168" long- there's no one for whom that CUV size is 'too big'.

30 minutes ago, balthazar said:

An Encore is 168" long- there's no one for whom that CUV size is 'too big'.

Yet, GM does NOT sell it in the rest of the Asian rim. It would sell and is a perfect size and I agree it is NOT too big, yet with that said, those small asian countries would need to open up to GM selling it there. There is great control over the story of what the local population is told and what works and does not work for them. They sell this that America SUV/CUV are too big and as such, people are lied to and led to believe that is why they cannot sell them there not the truth that the local gov is controlling what they can and cannot buy.

The compact CUV's that American auto companies build will fit and sell just fine if they are allowed into those places, Full size trucks and SUV's not so much.

23 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Yet, GM does NOT sell it in the rest of the Asian rim. It would sell and is a perfect size and I agree it is NOT too big, yet with that said, those small asian countries would need to open up to GM selling it there. There is great control over the story of what the local population is told and what works and does not work for them. They sell this that America SUV/CUV are too big and as such, people are lied to and led to believe that is why they cannot sell them there not the truth that the local gov is controlling what they can and cannot buy.

The compact CUV's that American auto companies build will fit and sell just fine if they are allowed into those places, Full size trucks and SUV's not so much.

QFT times 1000.  The Encore (and the Chevy Trax) should be sold basically anywhere in the world since most countries cannot handle the large CUVs or pickup trucks GM offers these days.

I bet in 5 year pa GM and Ford are cutting the Encore, Trax, Trailblazer, Ecosport, etc to “focus on more profitable models” and Equinox and Escape will be the base models, and post 2025 they might kill them off too if the RAV4 crushes the market the way the Camry did to the sedan market.

Any electric replacement for the Malibu will sell at a fraction of what the Malibu sells now.. .and the current car is not exactly setting the sales charts on fire.  Guaranteed.

Shame. This gen was a very good car when it came out. They made it worse with powertrain options and design changes. They should keep either the Malibu or Impala nameplate, and make it a RWD/AWD sport sedan.

43 minutes ago, Frisky Dingo said:

Shame. This gen was a very good car when it came out. They made it worse with powertrain options and design changes. They should keep either the Malibu or Impala nameplate, and make it a RWD/AWD sport sedan.

Because the Cadillac red/awd sport sedans sell?  The CT5 is $38k, so CT4 is probably going to be about $31k.   And that is before discounts which will be available after about a year on the market.

1 hour ago, smk4565 said:

I bet in 5 year pa GM and Ford are cutting the Encore, Trax, Trailblazer, Ecosport, etc to “focus on more profitable models” and Equinox and Escape will be the base models, and post 2025 they might kill them off too if the RAV4 crushes the market the way the Camry did to the sedan market.

They're not cutting the Encore. They sell more Encores in China than they sell Buicks in the US. And it's on an inexpensive platform.

GM is simply looking to commit suicide another way than Ford is.  Ford is in for a major surprise when truck sales slide...better hope they have some EVs.....

I realize some cars have to go. But GM does things half assedd like they normally do. Realizing folks like bigger things, common sense says you get rid of the small stuff (Spark, Sonic) and things you have double of (impala) but keep your higher volume stuff (Malibu, Cruze) especially since the Cruze comes in two (sedan, hatch). And, we could have EV versions on both as well, so folks have lower cost EV choices.

Thing GM needs to see just how dumb that is going to be......

1 hour ago, smk4565 said:

I bet in 5 year pa GM and Ford are cutting the Encore, Trax, Trailblazer, Ecosport, etc to “focus on more profitable models” and Equinox and Escape will be the base models, and post 2025 they might kill them off too if the RAV4 crushes the market the way the Camry did to the sedan market.

Ease up on the fine spirits there kind sir... If they are killing them off like that-the economy is going to be in much bigger shambles that I thought.

More than likely, any replacements like be full EVs.....

9 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

They're not cutting the Encore. They sell more Encores in China than they sell Buicks in the US. And it's on an inexpensive platform.

And they are everywhere here....

21 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

They're not cutting the Encore. They sell more Encores in China than they sell Buicks in the US. And it's on an inexpensive platform.

The Chinese market could save it, but they could also remove Encore/Trax from the US market if there is a big sales drop.  Once the market is so crazy flooded with crossovers, the weak ones will die off.  Just like what is happening with sedans.   These are the people that want to kill Malibu, Impala and Camaro that are 50 year name plates, I don't think they would think twice about killing off the Encore.

YTD the Malibu is GM's #4 seller being Silverado, Equinox and Sierra.

1 hour ago, Frisky Dingo said:

Shame. This gen was a very good car when it came out. They made it worse with powertrain options and design changes. They should keep either the Malibu or Impala nameplate, and make it a RWD/AWD sport sedan.

It is a shame.  A RWD Impala/Caprice would be fabulous.

4 hours ago, smk4565 said:

The Chinese market could save it, but they could also remove Encore/Trax from the US market if there is a big sales drop.  Once the market is so crazy flooded with crossovers, the weak ones will die off.  Just like what is happening with sedans.   These are the people that want to kill Malibu, Impala and Camaro that are 50 year name plates, I don't think they would think twice about killing off the Encore.

YTD the Malibu is GM's #4 seller being Silverado, Equinox and Sierra.

Keep in mind though- those very nameplates might come back on the new EVs as well....pretty sure all the EVs will not all be SUVs....

14 hours ago, daves87rs said:

Ford is in for a major surprise when truck sales slide...better hope they have some EVs.....

I gotta ask: what data are you basing this prediction on?

7 minutes ago, balthazar said:

I gotta ask: what data are you basing this prediction on?

Cycles of boom and bust I would imagine.....

OK, but is that 'data'?

Trucks (and SUVs) have been taking an increasing share of new vehicles sales for like 50 years running now. That's far too long to be in a cycle.
Sure; trucks sales dipped more than cars when gas spiked at $4/gal+ (for 6 months), but trucks now are reaching solidly into the mid 20s in FE (and beyond) - already a far cry from where they were 10 years ago. Add to that trucks in general have evolved much farther from where they were -say- in 1990, than cars have (IMO), and you have multiple 'insurance' factors that IF another huge upswing in fuel costs comes (I personally don't see the metrics for it), that trucks will retain their percentages better than a decade ago.
That scenario aside, they aren't fads and they are not part of a 'cycle'. The 'CUV-ing' of cars is measurable proof of that. 

At the very least, "when" is an reach.