GMSV is preparing to reveal its future model plans for Australia and New Zealand, and it’s now all but confirmed that the portfolio will include electric vehicles.
Currently, GMVS – or General Motors Specialty Vehicles – imports and sells the Chevrolet Silverado pick-up that’s remanufactured to right-hand drive (RHD) for Australia in Melbourne, and the Corvette sports car that’s built in RHD configuration in the US.
The Walkinshaw-owned business has said it is open to offering more models in the future, but has so far kept its cards close to its chest.
However, when asked about the possibility of electric vehicles joining the line-up, GM International SMAD Director of Communications Lauren Indiveri-Clarke hinted that an announcement was imminent.
“All I can say at this point is stay tuned. We will be making more announcements this year,” she told CarsGuide.
Already locked in for GMSV in the next year is the petrol-electric hybrid version of the Chevrolet Corvette, dubbed the E-Ray, but timing and pricing is unclear.
It sounds like a battery electric vehicle will be the next cab off the rank, but Ms Indiveri-Clarke remained coy when asked if there was interest in the all-electric Silverado EV that was revealed early last year, saying that while there has been interest from potential buyers, the regular internal-combustion Silverado is still very popular.
“We haven’t announced anything. So you know, do they want to wait and see what might come, or do they want to get their name down for what they know that they can get now? And that’s what I think we’re seeing. People do ask and we get asked all the time about this and what our plans are for the future. But the demand for our internal combustion products is extremely high anyway,” she said.
While the Silverado EV is the most obvious candidate to join the local line-up given the growing popularity of full-size American pick-ups, it’s unclear if it would be built in right-hand drive at the factory in North America, or imported to Australia and then converted.
The new dedicated RHD conversion factory in Dandenong in Melbourne’s south-east came on line last year and there is room to scale up if needed.
However, the flexibility of GM’s Ultium electric platform that underpins the Silverado EV – and a number of coming GM EVs – means it could potentially be built in the US in RHD configuration.
That flexible platform means more GM EVs could be built in RHD in the future and that’s good news for GM fans Down Under. Spy pics of a Cadillac Lyriq EV in RHD were published recently, and there have been rumours for years about the American luxury brand returning to Australian shores.
Another possibility for Australia is the distinctly not electric GMC Yukon upper-large SUV that, as CarsGuide recently reported, has been registered in local trademark filings.
GMSV officials were tight-lipped on any future product plans, but GMSV Marketing and Communications Manager Jodie Lennon highlighted some of the challenges with adding new model lines to a small operation.
“I think there’s a lot of things to consider when you bring in another variant to your product line. We’re already doing so well with Silverado and with Corvette. We’re a really small team at GMSV. We do have a small dealer network so there’s a lot of things to consider,” she said.
“When you bring in an SUV in particular, you have to add LCT to any vehicle, so on the Silverado we don’t have the LCT, so there’s just a lot of challenges that we need to work through to ensure that it’s right for the market and right for the customer. That’s something that we ongoingly look at. But there’s multiple factors and those are just some of them that we need to take into consideration.”
Keep an eye on CarsGuide for any GMSV announcements, particularly the EV confirmation.
Keyword: Watch your back, Rivian R1T! GMSV could be about to add a new electric car to its line-up in Australia - will it be the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV or something else?