A year after $500M grant to shift Lansing plant to EVs, GM mum on plans

• GM hasn’t announced its plans for its factory in Lansing a year after a $500 million federal grant to retool it for EVs
• GM is condensing its EV production as the US aims to rollback or halt EV-related funding 
• Auto upheaval also continues from tariffs, leaving Lansing wondering about plant’s future

LANSING — The giant Camaro logo near the main General Motors factory gate just south of Michigan’s state Capitol building is a vestige of the legacy autos once assembled inside Lansing Grand River.

But now that GM is shuffling its production at factories across the country — and condensing its electric vehicle plans — the discontinued muscle car badge also reminds the community that the automaker hasn’t gone public with the next step for Lansing.

A year ago, Michigan celebrated a $500 million federal grant to electrify the factory. Lansing Grand River was one of 11 factories in eight states receiving $1.7 billion in retooling grants to swap out gas-only vehicles for hybrids and electric vehicles. At the time, officials said the factories would otherwise close.

The grant drew fire among Republicans before the fall election, including Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers, as many championed now-President Donald’s Trump’s plans to roll back or stop federal EV spending that peaked during the Biden administration.

City officials, union leaders and industry advocates in Michigan’s still-auto heavy economy all are asking the automaker if EV retooling is still the plan. They await word on whether GM will proceed with unnamed electric vehicles in Lansing or shift gears as the automaker has done elsewhere.

Related:

• Feds give $500M to Lansing GM auto plant to switch to EVs
• Michigan in ‘bull’s-eye’ of tariff fight, Canadian official warns
• Bill Ford: Federal EV policy changes ‘imperil’ $2B Michigan EV factory

GM recently said “no decisions have been made on the product, and nothing has really changed from there,” Lansing Mayor Andy Schor told Bridge Michigan. 

“People want to know,” Schor added, particularly after recent GM factory announcements that boost non-EV production in the US. “I think as the year moves on, there will be more questions.”

The 2023 national contract with the United Auto Workers calls for a $1.25 billion investment into Lansing Grand River, said Benjamin Frantz, president of Local 652. The amalgamated local represents about 600 workers at the 3.4-million-square-foot Lansing factory as well as several area suppliers.

GM’s commitment stands, Frantz told Bridge. But what that will look like remains unclear, 18 months after the Camaro ceased production and ended the plant’s second shift.

“I was hoping that we would already understand it,” Frantz said.

A complicated time

The business climate for auto companies is unusually complex this year, with enormous corporate engines facing new regulatory and cost changes in an already competitive market. 

Trump’s administration is rolling back EV-related regulations and funding. The US Senate may start voting on the “big, beautiful bill” spending plan next week, a package that would eliminate consumer EV credits. 

Among other funding in question are the retooling grants, which are being reevaluated by the Department of Energy among federal moves to slow or halt spending on EV subsidies. 

The DOE “is conducting a department-wide review to ensure all activities follow the law, comply with applicable court orders and align with the Trump administration’s priorities,” a spokesperson told Bridge, declining to answer follow-up questions. 

Kevin Kelly, a spokesperson for GM, told Bridge in March that the DOE grant was finalized, but he offered no details then or in a more recent request from Bridge.

EV sales were about 7.5% of all US auto sales in the first quarter of 2025, according to CarEdge, and up 11% year-over-year. However, they’re not meeting the robust projections of a few years ago. Experts say EV sales could slow under a rollback until automakers close the price gap between EVs and gas-only vehicles. 

A host of new and changing auto tariffs on vehicles and parts manufactured outside of the U.S. also caused automakers to take stock of the domestic capacity and make changes.

“I don't think it's overstated to say that we've never seen anything quite like this, with these many converging dynamics at one time,” said Glenn Stevens, executive director of MichAuto, a statewide auto industry advocacy group.

So far this year, GM has:

• Sold its nearly completed Ultium battery factory west of Lansing to partner LG Energy Solution.
• Moved planned EV truck production from Orion Assembly in Oakland County to Factory Zero in Detroit-Hamtramck.
• Announced its largest single investment for an engine plant, $888 million, in Tonawanda, New York.
• Added Chevrolet Equinox SUV production in Fairfax Assembly in Kansas City, where once just the Chevy Bolt was planned.
• Added Chevrolet Blazer production in Spring Hill, Tennessee, alongside Cadillac EVs.

The automaker’s EVs are selling, data shows, and reports indicate that GM is second to Tesla in US sales of electrified cars. 

But the uncertainty of policy changes on the market  — and the still-low sales volume compared to gas-only vehicles — appears to be driving GM’s recent decision making.

“GM’s … electric vehicles are selling well, but their (internal combustion vehicles) are selling better,” Alan Haig, president of dealership merger-and-acquisitions firm Haig Partners, recently told the Detroit Free Press.

Looking ahead

Lansing Grand River runs a single shift, building GM’s performance sedans, the Cadillac CT4 and CT5, as well as stamping metal for other models.  GM remains one of Lansing’s largest employers, with 4,000 workers in the city and nearby Delta Township.

Sales in 2024 of all versions of the CT4 in the US declined 32%, falling to 6,208 vehicles from 9,144, according to the GM Authority website that tracks the automaker. For the first quarter of 2025, sales dipped another 30% to 405 vehicles each of the first three months of the year.

Sales in the US of the CT5 jumped 32% in the first quarter of this year, totaling 3,981 sold, compared to 3,022 a year earlier.

The sales of both vehicles have been strong enough to extend production, UAW president Frantz said. 

“People are buying … enough to where they continually extend the build date,” he said. “Initially we were supposed to go down next year sometime. Now we're already building all the way through next year.”

Among the bright spots for EV sales have been hybrids, with manufacturers like Ford Motor Co. trying to boost those sales. 

Schor, Lansing’s mayor, said he’s confident GM will uphold its contract to upgrade the plant. He noted that plug-in hybrids could be a viable new product. 

Meanwhile, all of the changes GM announced follow a strong start to the year. 

“The big winner in the first half of 2025 has to be General Motors,” said Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist at Cox Automotive, in a recent report. 

“Despite all the challenges, GM’s sales are expected to finish above 1.4 million units, up more than 12% from last year. Double-digit growth across all GM brands fueled the success.”