Cadillac SRX Plug-In Hybrid Canceled
General Motors has once again canceled plans to bring a plug-in hybrid crossover to market. The automaker axed two other efforts back in 2008 and 2009 and has now reportedly dropped its most recent effort to build the Volt-style plug-in vehicle.
This most recent stab at the plug-in hybrid crossover was slated to be built on the Cadillac SRX platform, but GM has reportedly just sent a note to all involved in the project announcing its termination. This news comes as somewhat of a surprise, as back in December word came that the project was moving ahead.
While previous delays and the life cycle of the current SRX platform are believed to be issues, the final nail in the coffin of the SRX PHEV may have been the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the subsequent supply chain disruptions. An inability to get the electronic components needed and the rising prices of those parts that were available could be responsible for pushing back the launch date of the vehicle to the point where it would be too old in the SRX’s product lifecycle to be relevant. Several sources close to the project denied this was the major issue, citing instead that it had already become too late in the lifecycle of the SRX and that new advancements in hybrid technology would have made the SRX powertrain outdated.
GM is now looking to the future and those new hybrid tech developments, with one member involved in the SRX PHEV indicating a possibility that the project may be reborn under the next-gen SRX.
[Source: Reuters]
With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.
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