Highlights
Production of the CT6 will end in January 2020
Impala to be shown the door in February 2020
Plant to be retooled to build electric vehicles and SUVs
Had someone said, 25 years ago, that SUVs would be the be all and end all of the automotive industry, they’d have been packed off into the boot of a large saloon and never been heard of again… But, saloons don't rule anymore - in fact, they’re on the verge of extinction. We have already lost nameplates such as Ford’s Taurus and Fusion, Chrysler’s 200, Chevrolet’s Malibu and Cruze and now another model from the gold bowtie is being shown the door – the Impala along with the Cadillac CT6...
The famous Impala name came along in 1958 and was used on coupes, convertibles, saloons and wagons and this helped to make it one of the best-selling in the US. At its peak in the early Sixties, over 1 million were sold but its popularity has been fading (it was last a chart topper back in 1978) and this year, just 35,000 left dealerships due to car buyers continuing to prefer larger SUVs and CUVs.
So, ten generations and dozens of memorable editions later, the Impala is meeting its demise with the last cars set to roll off the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant on February 28 next year. It’s gone on hiatus twice before (1985 and 1994 and again between 1996 and 2000), but a comeback doesn't seem as likely due to the lack of demand for large saloons. Its discontinuation this time around looks like it’ll be permanent unless trends are to change again, which doesn't look like happening anytime soon.
The second luxury saloon from General Motors to be dropped is the Cadillac CT6. Riding on a platform that was hailed as an engineering marvel earlier this decade, it was originally going to be moved to another plant and kept on but that plan hasn't worked out. Production of the CT6 will end in January 2020 and with the end of production of both the Cadillac and Chevy at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant, 814 people will be losing their jobs. However, the factory is not being shut down - it will be retooled to build electric cars and, yes, more SUVs...
