General Motors will discontinue the Chevrolet Bolt at the end of this year as it focuses on its new generation of electric vehicles, CEO Mary Barra said Tuesday.
“It's just a natural progression, natural next step for us,” Chevrolet CMO Steve Majoros told sibling publication Automotive News. “It's not about replacement volume, especially early on,” Majoros said. “Bolt has been a conquest machine for us. Early on, it was conquesting north of 85 per cent, which means these were all brand-new people to Chevrolet and what you find in EVs, there's a tremendous amount of brand loyalty, but it's really a propulsion decision.
"The size of the Bolt itself isn't a popular size for the American consumer. It's a little too small," Sam Fiorani, vice president of U.S.-based global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, told Automotive News last year."And with advances in battery technology and motor technology, they're getting more mileage out of a charge and making the vehicles bigger.