GM to end Chevy Bolt EV production next year, move China-made Buick to US factory
The factory musical chairs reflect an economic and political environment, shaped by the Trump administration's tariff policy and its decision to end the federal EV tax credit.
General Motors is shuffling where its vehicles are made in a move that will shift production away from China and Mexico and to a U.S. factory in Kansas. That change will also mean the end of its rebooted Chevrolet Bolt EV, the only vehicle currently built at the Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas.
The factory musical chairs reflect an economic and political environment, shaped by the Trump administration’s tariff policy and its decision to end the federal EV tax credit, which provided up to $7,500 off qualifying electric vehicles. These changes have made it more expensive to build vehicles in China and Mexico that are then sold in the United States.
Production of the 2027 Chevy Bolt EV, which landed in dealerships this month, is expected to end in about a year and a half. The new Chevy Bolt EV, which is priced at $29,990 including the destination fee, is one of the most affordable new EVs available to U.S. consumers.
GM confirmed to TechCrunch that the next-generation Buick Envision, currently built in China, will move to the Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas, beginning in 2028. The gas-powered Chevrolet Equinox, which is made in the San Luis Potosí plant in Mexico, will move to the Kansas factory in mid-2027.
The Bolt, meanwhile, will have a short life if GM follows through with its previously announced plans.
“When we revealed Bolt in October, we said and it was widely reported that it’d be a limited run model,” a GM spokesperson said in a statement sent to TechCrunch. “We had also previously announced the gas-powered Equinox would be coming to Fairfax in mid 2027 after Bolt production ramps down. Today we’re announcing the next-generation Buick compact SUV will come to Fairfax beginning in 2028.”
The company still sells other EVs, including an electric Chevy Equinox and Chevy Blazer. The question is whether GM will change course and save the Bolt if sales are better than expected. We do know that GM has promised to make new future investments in Fairfax Assembly for its next generation of affordable EVs. We just don’t know when.
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