We all have regrets, some bigger than others. In hindsight, there are things we’d do differently, choices that might have led us down a better path. But since none of us are clairvoyant, we must live with the decisions we’ve made. General Motors has its share of regrets too, particularly when it comes to discontinuing certain models it now wishes had stayed in the lineup.
In a candid interview with our colleagues at InsideEVs, GM President Mark Reuss admitted the Cadillac CT6 should never have been discontinued. However, it was one of those “tough decisions” the company had to make at the time. As a reminder, the Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly Plant was transformed into Factory Zero to produce electric trucks and SUVs. That shift hasn’t gone quite as GM planned, considering around 280 employees are currently laid off until the end of the year due to weak demand for the GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Escalade IQ.
The CT6 was axed in North America in 2020 but continues to live on in China, where a second generation launched in 2023. Despite dropping the CT6 in the U.S., Cadillac still has a flagship model in the fully electric Celestiq, though it’s a far more extravagant offering, starting at over $300,000. That doesn’t mean the brand is giving up on more attainable sedans. While the CT4 is being phased out, a next-generation CT5 with a combustion engine is officially in development.
Beyond the CT6, Reuss also shared that he wishes Chevrolet hadn’t ended production of the original Bolt. The nameplate is returning for 2027, but not as a direct successor to the hatchback. Instead, it will replace the crossover-style Bolt EUV, offering faster charging and a slightly higher range, all for $29,990, which will make it America’s most affordable EV.
Looking further back, Reuss added that he believes the EV1 should never have been canceled, though he clarified he wasn’t with GM at the time:
‘I wasn’t around for EV1. I wasn’t in the company. That would have been one example of something the company should not have done, which was canceling that. That was really quite a car.’
It’s rare to hear a high-ranking executive so openly acknowledge that some past decisions might have led to better outcomes if handled differently. Reuss recognized that EV adoption hasn’t progressed as quickly as GM once projected but noted that “it’s still happening.” Even so, the decision to greenlight a new gas-powered CT5 effectively signals that Cadillac is walking back its earlier goal to go fully electric by decade’s end.
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