January 13, 2026 - GM May Have Second Thoughts on Hybrids

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for January 13, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.  

Yesterday in Detroit, General Motors CEO and Chair Mary Barra took part in what has become something of an annual tradition, a fireside chat with the president of the Automotive Press Association, who this year is Kalea Hall from Thomson Reuters. This year, the event moved from its usual December timing to early January to coincide with the move-in to GM's new world headquarters offices in the new Hudson's Detroit building. 

Hall asked Barra questions on a wide range of topics, including succession planning, since the CEO will be turning 65 at the end of this year. As an experienced corporate leader, Barra skillfully evaded providing much in the way of real insight into her thinking, not giving any indication about her thoughts on retirement and repeating that it's the board's decision on who the next CEO will be, not hers. She said she's still having a lot of fun and, as an electrical engineer, she's spending a lot of time on everything the company is doing from a software perspective. 

Another topic was hybrids. When the signs of slowing of EV adoption appeared in 2024, GM indicated that it would bring back hybrids to its North American lineup. The only hybrid currently offered by GM here is the Corvette, although the company has multiple offerings in China. Barra said that the company is continuing to evaluate both hybrid and plug-in hybrid options, especially as it looks at what the regulatory environment might be beyond 2028. But the tone of her response, especially when she commented that hybrid adoption went up substantially more than a decade ago and then went back down, indicates that GM may be less enthusiastic about this option now, despite the growth that Toyota, Honda, and others are seeing. Barra also said, "We're mainly investing and continuing to work on EVs because we think that's the end game and we want to be prudent with our owners' capital." So rather than split resources three ways between combustion, EVs, and hybrids, GM forgoes the blended option. 

Thanks for listening.