What it means to be an American is, to a great extent, an ongoing and never answered question. I’d argue that the constant effort to find an answer is sort of the point, and if there ever is a truly definitive solution, then we’ve lost something of what truly makes this country so chaotically beautiful. That being said, there’s probably some common ground in that Americans believe in having choices.
This is both an outgrowth of the advanced free market that has developed over the years and an initial impulse that drove the Mayflower across the ocean, then filled the minds and documents that formed American society. While the political choices can sometimes run binary (or worse), commercial choices usually abound. If you don’t believe me, count the number of probiotic sodas available at fancy grocery stores.
The Morning Dump is getting philosophical today, and let’s start with a choice of sedans. If you’re a consumer in America, the options are dwindling when it comes to passenger cars that aren’t some form of SUV. A new report says that GM might fix that, tantalizing us with the option for at least one more sedan. I have ideas of what I want it to be.
Nissan still makes sedans, but the making of sedans isn’t making it rich. It’s still losing money and closing plants. Rivian is also losing money, but it’s less money, and it has achieved a gross profit. Lucid lost a little more than expected, but maybe it’s not entirely terrible?
GM Reportedly Needs To Build Two Passenger Cars… So What’s The Second One?
It’s no secret that GM will be creating a next-generation Cadillac CT5 on what’s expected to be the Alpha 2+2 platform, which is supposedly an evolution of the existing Alpha 2 platform that’s already under the CT5, and once held up the (sadly) lost Camaro. This is supposed to be built in GM’s Lansing Grand River Assembly.
Here’s what CEO Mary Barra said about it in her latest letter to shareholders:
It’s clear that ICE volumes will remain higher for longer. We lead the industry today, and we are increasingly well positioned to meet strong, sustained demand.
For example, we are onshoring production of the Chevrolet Blazer, developing a next-generation Cadillac CT5 and redesigning and extending the Cadillac XT5. When Orion Assembly comes back online in early 2027, it will produce the Cadillac Escalade and then add our next-generation full-size, light duty pickup trucks.
Grand River ain’t a small place, and GM Authority’s, assumption, based on sources, is that one CT5 isn’t enough for the available capacity and that GM is developing “multiple variants” of Alpha 2+2. In order to maximize Lansing, there needs to be another car. And I mean car, not another crossover. And not an EV, a gas-powered car (or at least a hybrid). And a RWD-based one, at that!
So what does this mean? No one knows. That’s what’s fun about it. We can all use our imaginations and think of something completely out of the box, like a 2027 Chevy Malibu SS (I’m showing the Code 130R concept up top and the Malibu XTC Concept above for inspiration). Given that the emissions regulations (at least of the global warming variety) barely exist at the federal level, there’s also less of a penalty for the return of a Camaro and maybe a Camaro sedan.
A slightly more boring answer is a coupe version of the CT5, although that still sounds fun to me. I miss coupes.
Nissan Lost $1.4 Billion In First Half Of (Fiscal) Year, Pulls Guidance
The Autopian’s favorite car exec/drummer, Ivan Espinosa, has been trying to get Nissan back on the beat as the automaker struggles with its departure from the Renault partnership, the imprisonment of its CEO, tariffs, the inconsistent rise of electric cars, and all sorts of other issues.
It’s been tough, and Nissan has pulled its guidance for the year as it closes plants, sells its Japanese HQ, and does what it can to raise cash to get to whatever is next. The company’s first half of the fiscal year (April-September) showed massive losses due to reorganization and tariffs.
Without tariffs, the company says it would be close to breaking even, and Espinosa sees a path forward. Per Nikkei Asia:
“Our first half results reflect the challenges we face,” Ivan Espinosa, Nissan’s President and CEO, said on Thursday. “But they also confirm that Nissan is firmly on the path to recovery.”
Espinosa, who took the helm in April, formulated the company’s restructuring plan, which called for the elimination of 20,000 jobs and reducing the number of car assembly plants from 17 to 10 globally by March 2028. The plan was developed after the company posted a net loss of 670 billion yen in the fiscal year ended March 2025.
“The plan is ongoing, and we are tracking according [to] our expectations in terms of speed and size of adjustment of the workforce,” Espinosa said. He has yet to reveal the exact number of staff cuts involved.
If Espinosa makes this work, the rejection of a deal with Honda will look remarkably wise. If not, then there’s gonna be a lot of pain that maybe could have been avoided (although Honda wouldn’t have solved Nissan’s overcapacity problems, so much of this is inevitable).
[Ed Note: A reminder that Nissan is absolutely worth saving. It’s a brand with an incredible history. -DT]
Rivian Makes A Gross Profit, Thanks In Part To VW
Electric truckmaker Rivian has had a long, difficult road to profitability. Just building enough cars has been hard, let alone timing them out to market demand. While the company was not exactly profitable in the third quarter, it did make a little more in revenue and lost less money than expected. It also posted its second quarter of gross profitability, which is important, as CNBC explains:
Regarding its gross profit, which is closely watched by investors, the company reported $24 million during the third quarter, beating FactSet consensus estimates of a $38.6 million loss. Both the company’s automotive and software and services performed better than expected.
“While we face near-term uncertainty from trade, tariffs, and regulatory policy, we remain focused on long-term growth and value creation,” Rivian CEO and founder RJ Scaringe said Tuesday in the company’s shareholder letter.
Rivian’s gross profit included a $130 million loss in its automotive operations — which was a $249 million improvement from the same period a year earlier — that was offset by $154 million from its VW joint venture and software and services.
Ah yes, VW. While Rivian’s products might have carried it without help, VW’s offering over $5 billion certainly didn’t hurt. With some exciting cars coming, it doesn’t seem like a crazy bet to me.
Lucid Loses Less Money, Still Struggling To Ramp Production
Photo credit: Thomas Hundal
I haven’t driven one yet, but David and Thomas had great things to say about the Lucid Gravity, even though David thinks the styling was a misstep and that maybe the company is too nerdy for its own good. I have driven the Lucid Air a few times, and it’s an incredibly impressive machine. How’s the company doing?
Sales are up, losses are down, but the acceleration of production isn’t quite where it needs to be yet, according to Electrek:
Although supply chain issues hampered production in the first half of the year, Lucid’s CEO Marc Winterhoff said the company made “significant progress ramping production of the Lucid Gravity through Q3,” including adding a second manufacturing shift at its Casa Grande, Arizona, plant.
Lucid produced 3,891 vehicles in Q3, missing estimates of around 5,600. With 9,966 EVs produced through the third quarter, Lucid will need to build over 8,000 more to meet its full-year production goal of 18,000 to 20,000.
While Lucid doesn’t have a VW deal, there’s always the Saudi Public Investment Fund to fall back on.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
The idea of “selling out” is kinda a quaint concept in 2025. If you want to know what it felt like in the ’90s, “Sell Out” by Reel Big Fish is a decent primer.
The Big Question
What’s GM going to build and what do you think GM should build?
Top photo: GM
What should GM build? Look, I know we all love sedans, but CUVs and SUVs are what make the $$$.
So let’s embrace it.
On that platform, stretch the roof to the rear bumper, add a tailgate and opening glass, keep it low to the ground with a turbocharged V6 and AWD. With hybridization.
Make it in black, sell it through GMC dealers and call it…
The Typhoon.
You know what fuels the $$-making?
We do.
Us buyers.
We’re paying GM (et al.) a premium to have that SUV over comparative sedan/hatch.
Has the general public accepted the fate to pay more out of our own pocket to these companies for an SUV? It sure seems that way.
So the question becomes: how much cheaper would a sedan have to be to sway buyers, but not discourage GM (et al) from cancelling because they can just make more money by lifting the car by 2″ and calling it an SUV?
Likely the answer comes back that a domestic sedan won’t be cheaper, it’ll be “premium” so they can charge us, the consumers, more money for it.
Car companies didn’t come out en masse and force us to buy CUVs and SUVs. They started offering them and we started buying them en masse. More space in the trunk! Easier ingress and egress! Better visibility in traffic! Those are the features that people chose to pay for.
Watch ads for SUVs. They’re selling us on lifestyle.
I’m not sure I recall seeing a Subaru ad that didn’t show some kind of softroading/nature, a Jeep ad that didn’t paint it as offroad-y or raise its perception of “big”, and so-on.
Yeah they’re marketing them on lifestyle- they’re consumer products! It doesn’t negate my points.
What will GM build: Nothing, probably. The CT4/CT5 are selling less than 30,000 units per year in North America and are close to the end of their model cycle. Their sales are very down in China, so the Alpha platform is kind of on death’s door. The fact these cars are getting a stay of execution is more the miracle; the next economic contraction will likely be enough to sign their death warrants.
What should GM build: A rear-wheel drive six-speed Chevelle Malibu wagon with a LS priced at $25,000 so that I can complain that I’d totally buy one if it was $5,000 cheaper (but I won’t) and when they sell twelve of them and discontinue it, I can be a pedant about how GM always kills their best cars and hates enthusiasts, whilst crying ‘Remember the Fiero and G8!’
The CT5 is getting a 2nd generation though, but like all GM platforms only the Corvette gets to stand alone. What will GM make out of the platform-mate of the CT5 is hopefully something good and interesting
I am embarrassed by how much I used to like Reel Big Fish.
For me, it started with a girl I liked who liked them, then I went to a show with her (Warped Tour, maybe?) and started to like them. Didn’t go anywhere with her, so I never bought the second album (or whatever followed that hit). It didn’t hurt that they were in the ballpark of the Bosstones, who were mediocre, but local, cheap, band members were friendly, and they had decent pits. Then they blew up with that song for . . . Clueless? Whatever it was and the shows weren’t as fun. I looked her up a little while ago and she had, like, 30 kids (OK, 3). As someone who has never had an interest in kids, I seem to have an unfortunate knack for attraction to women who wanted them.
I have a Chevy SS that I love, but that is showing its age a bit. The CT5 is the most appealing replacement one day as it’s similarly sized, but it doesn’t quite hit the power/price sweet spot that the SS did. If they make a new SS (4-door camaro, other chevy nameplate) with a v8 or 400hp+ v6 I will be all over it.
What about the CT5-V (non blackwing)
It’s something I’d consider, but lower HP engine has me skeptical. I’d have to drive one to see, maybe it could win me over. I’d love it to have a manual as well, but that’s wishful thinking on a new offering anyway.
The CT5 is also a little bit smaller inside, especially in back seat space.
Really the only downside I noticed making the switch from an SS.
I’d rather see the Impala nameplate return – much better logo.
For the next-generation CT5, I’d like to see their 2.7T with hybrid tech as the base engine. I’d also like to see the CT5-V (non-Blackwing) get an updated 6.2L V8 with hybrid tech, and also a gas-only “CT5-V Classic” with a 6-speed manual.
I’d also like to see a next-generation Camaro with the same powertrains, in both sedan and coupe body styles.
When I was a high school punk/ska kid in the late 1990’s, being a “sell-out” was the worst thing ever. To give up the soul of your work for money and or fame. Friends of mine in punk bands were so dedicated to the scene that they refused to get signed to even a small, local label because it was “selling out”.
It seems inconceivably quaint today. Nobody cares anymore.
Yeah, screw success! Being broke is more punk. What a time.
The opening sketch of the first episode of Portlandia – the dream of the 90s is alive in Portland- captures it all (and the entire series for that matter) so well.
It’s hilarious to me today where selling out seems to be the goal of most people and not in that ridiculous
jealousyinverse snobbery of 50 more people actually buying someone’s newer album, but the most proudly dishonorable and depraved way of “get that bag!”, though I understand that it’s borne of greater desperation and a society that seems to often solely reward base, narcissistic behavior. Were I more nostalgic, I’d be waving my arm at the clouds, but I’ve detached myself from humanity and have chosen to be more of an observer of this species I feel I have an ever more tenuous connection to.What are we trending these days? Cat? Or something more out-there like chlorine gas?
“We” as in me? Bradypus sloth.
Amateur product planner time: GM ought to have multiple portion sizes for RWD coupe/sedan offerings.
Snack size: Solstice/Sky/etc. sports car, decontent & lightweight the thing as an “economical commuter” car with just 2 seats and a liftback layout, 2.0T motor.
Lunch: Camaro, just Dodge-Challenger the same 6th-gen coupe into production with updated bodywork, add the 2.7T motor as the base engine and next-gen V8 available.
Full-course dinner: Chevelle, sized like the new Dodge Charger, don’t bother with a 2-door, 4-door muscle cars are badass! 2.7T and V8 engines.
It’s like tomato sauce. There’s no single “optimal sedan size” for sales. Some like it smooth, some like it chunky, some like it spicy. If the Alpha platform is worth updating, it’s worth making enough flavors to get some serious market share.
(I love my 6th gen Camaro and I’m stoked either way to see the platform get another update!)
I don’t know what GM will build, but it’d be cool if they decided to invest in making both a new Camaro and finally do the Avista for Buick, same base engines with the next choice a V8 for the ‘Maro, the twin-turbo 6 for the Avista, that’d be pretty sweet.
I would like to think they could both be built on the same exact underpinnings. Not an engineer though, so wtf do I know.
I became a fan of Reel Big Fish when they covered a-ha’s “Take On Me”. In some ways it’s better than the original, replacing the catchy synth riff with a horn section. As the kids say, it’s an absolute banger.
Didn’t know about that version of ‘take on me’. Your right, bit of a ‘banger’, more upbeat/harder that a-ha’s version and I like a-ha.
Miss the ‘fun’ music of 80s/early 90s…
The Chevy Code and the Chevy Tru concept cars from 2012 really stuck in my mind. They really did look fantastic. I miss straightforward styling. Everything now feels like the equivalent of three car’s styling but on one car. Especially Toyota and whatever Hyundai/Kia are doing.
If they’re going after the new Charger, an Impala SS revival would be pretty cash money. Other than that a Cruze or Malibu sized sedan wouldn’t hurt as long as they don’t do the tried n true GM playbook of never advertising it and wondering why sales flopped.
If we’re talking RWD, seems like a new Camaro makes the most sense. An electric Camaro SUV showing up as the only Camaro as most everyone scales back on EVs would probably stumble, annoying the fans but not enough demand to offset it. But with a “traditional” ICE Camaro alongside it it’s more of a lineup and likely would carry more buzz overall.
I don’t want the RWD Malibu SS that I deserve. I want a GOOD one.
I’m not asking this because I hate sedans – is there a sedan buyer that is going to pick a GM over a Honda or Toyota? Didn’t the GM buyer let their sedans die in favor of crossovers and suvs?
If they position the new sedan right, as in right below the cheapest honda or toyota of the same size, they will pull in people who want more but can afford the GM. Plus fleet sales to a ton of places.
Yes?? Old rural upper midwest xenophobic old men, who only want to buy American and their wives cannot get into a truck? ( joking, as your point is excellent)
Do Toyota and Honda make a lot of RWD performance sedans, though?
The entire Midwest is drowning in domestic sedans, so yes, people (and fleets) will buy them by the millions.
Something RWD, 4-door, and performance oriented doesn’t exist currently to my knowledge at those OEMs.
A-body Ciera/Century, W-body Impala all lingered for years with solid sales, so if anything GM has often catered to more ‘traditional’ car buyers over the years that would still be open to a sedan. Especially for the right price.
Not if all things were relatively equal, but being RWD and (probably) V8 will set them apart in a way that they’re largely not competitors anymore. Making a big leap to assume some kind of good styling, would be even more appealing. Toyota people will still buy Toyotas, but that’s not who they would be selling to.
I’m willing to bet GM is working on a new Camaro. It’s their mainstay in most racing categories that aren’t Cadillac branded (NASCAR, Supercars, NHRA, Trans AM) and they need to be able to compete with Ford and Dodge in the Muscle Car market.
With Dodge going “Premium” and the Mustang getting fancy with the GTD options, Chevy can sneak in with a fun to drive Camaro at a lower price point and all their “heritage” options to boot. Imagine the new Z06 motor in a Camaro, specifically a stripped down IROC or something.
Totally agree. GM can’t run the “Chevrolet” in NASCAR forever. And your IROC idea is fantastic – it’s just about peak purchasing power for the generation for which those are mythical beasts. Teenage dirtbag, baby.
Counterpoint: Would NASCAR really turn away a legacy manufacturer like GM? The Xfinity (soon to be O’Reilly’s) Series would be a GM one-make series without Gibbs and Sam Hunt next year. They’re not about to tell Rick Hendrick, Richard Childress and Justin Marks to stop running Chevrolets.
It’s all irrelevant anyways because it will likely be a Camaro.
Totally. I mean that Chevrolet is the name of the model of the car GM is running now; it dropped the Camaro name since it’s no longer making it. It can still run the car, as it was making it when it was last homologated, but it can’t update it without homologating again via a vehicle it sells commercially.
NASCAR would have to rewrite the rule book for Chevrolet and that would open a Pandora’s box for Toyota, Ford, and Dodge (Ram for now) to play with homologation of new bodies and designs. Considering the expense of the bodys in the Cup series is in buying from one supplier, this could lead to increased costs that the Next Gen car was supposed to stop. You’d have a cascading effect of changes and exemptions that would be a mess.
Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing NASCAR go to a Late Model style series. Everyone uses the same body, just different stickers to differentiate which motor is underneath the hood.
Buick is still around. Give them something cool.
One can only hope a new Wildcat is coming.
I will not be holding my breath.
2025 LeSabre! Bench seats! Column shift! Giant buttons with print labels you can read from 2 miles away!
And of course, it MUST have a 3800.
GM needs a mid-size volume sedan. I know it’s boring, but that’s what would sell. The Malibu wasn’t a bad car, it just wasn’t competitive anymore after 10 years with no significant refresh.
What you’re describing sounds suspiciously like an Oldsmobile.
Pontiac Banshee. GNX redux.
Reel Big Fish, eh? Think I’ll have myself a beer.
I think this song, while I was in school at WVU, contributed to my drinking
probexpertise.I don’t know what GM is going to build – your guess is as good as mine.
But I want to say a word about Nissan – I hope they make it! They have a nice lineup that includes actual cars (Z, GT-R, Versa, Sentra, Altima) a decent truck, and a few too many crossovers (just consolidate the Kicks, Rogue and Murano and make the KiRoMu), but I’ve been very impressed with their level of quality lately and I think they bring a lot of what we need to the automotive manufacturing space.
All they need to do is drop the CVT. Nissan used to be in the same conversation as Honda and Toyota, but they chose to cheap out with a biodegradable transmission. Then they stuck with it for the last 15 years, despite their reputation going into the toilet because of it.
Yep, coworker of mine bought a Sentra when his Accord Coupe was totaled. It’s a nice looking car.
Same, a coworker has a top-of-the-line Sentra, and it looks really nice. Pearl white paint, sharp looking LED headlights, and good set of alloys go a long way.
Hot Take: The additional sedan that GM will build is going to be a Buick. It’ll have great available features (large ass screens, bun toasters, auto-up windows, etc..) but it will be powered by an agricultural feeling wheezy 3-cyl mill.
You’re not wrong. You just forgot about pairing that 3-cyl with a CVT.
If they’ve learned anything from Stellantis, it needs a big/high HP ICE engine.
Best of all worlds would be a V8 hybrid, with the marketing playing up the cylinder count and downplaying the electric motor.
But if recent history is any guide, GM’s bean counters don’t think we deserve nice things.
Given the way that 98% of late-model Chevy Malibus are driven, the last thing we need is for a new one to be RWD.
They all end up like Altimas eventually, but the term “big malibu energy” has never been a thing.
They’re the beige industrial wallpaper.
It’s there, it’s bad, but you don’t notice it until you’re looking for it.
I think crazy Altima people are a regional thing. I do see them occasionally where I am, but the majority of the complete psychos here are driving Malibus and occasionally Impalas.
I live in a city that has a massive GM vehicle assembly plant, so there’s way too many GM fanbois and fangirls around my parts. Strangely enough, the wrecked Altimas vs. wrecked Malibus ratio is about 7:1.
Go to any used car lot and you’ll see many more Altimas than Malibus, and the vast majority of them were formally part of rental fleets.
Make the cool Malibu SS a 4 door hatch back and sell it to the masses as a crossover most will not know the difference since many ( not car enthusiasts) people think all things with 4 wheels not pick up trucks are crossovers.
Bring back the Malibu Maxx SS? Call it the Malibu MaxXx SS and get a new Vin Diesel movie tie-in?
Or a Channing Tatum movie tie-in. Great place to start for modern car design language!
Just pull a Rolls Royce and call it an Urban SUV 😛
Why would they use the Malibu name, which was kinda tainted by the last few generations, instead of the golden name- Chevelle?
Because if GM can GM then GM will GM.
I’ll go with a new Camaro to go with the CT5
Without a Camaro, Chevy NASCAR guys will have to race Equinoxes. And those don’t draft well.