Following as-yet-unconfirmed reports that General Motors plans to turn Corvette into its own brand offering all-electric four-door and SUV models by mid-decade, a similar rumor regarding the Camaro and Escalade is now doing the rounds online.
More specifically, Car and Driver claims the Chevrolet Camaro and Cadillac Escalade are the next GM “brand umbrellas” that will be used for a range of future EVs. According to an unnamed source inside GM, the company has looked for ways to reinvent the Cadillac brand one more time and has reached the conclusion that it would make more sense to turn Escalade into a second Corvette-style EV sub-brand.
The Escalade line of electric vehicles could include a smaller version of the current Cadillac Escalade, a seven-seat crossover that would compete with Porsche’s upcoming three-row SUV, codenamed K1. The publication says such a model could sell well in markets such as the US and China.
Other potential EV models under consideration for the Escalade sub-brand include “a more car-like modern-luxury segment-fusing all-terrain Escalade” and a minivan that could initially be sold in China, where luxury MPVs are very popular.
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As for the Camaro sub-brand, the report mentions a potential lineup including a fully electric 2+2 coupe and convertible (sounds like a replacement for the current ICE Camaro), a sporty crossover with two- and four-door body styles and a mid-price flagship sports car “loosely linked to the C9 Corvette in content but not in appearance.”
The source also said that GM also looked at other successful standalone products like Silverado and Suburban but found them “unsuitable for various different reasons.” In order to make sense as a sub-brand, an additional independent lineup should include three or more distinctly different offerings, the insider added.
Now, if this is indeed in the works at GM, executives will have a lot of work to do making a strong business case for some of these rumored models. For example, the Camaro crossover will clearly need to be a more attractive proposition than the Blazer EV SS and not overlap with the Corvette SUV from a performance and price standpoint.
The same thing goes for the car-like Escalade all-terrain vehicle and the Camaro crossover, and examples could go on. We’ve asked GM for more details and will update this space when we hear back.
Until then, it goes without saying that General Motors will rely on substantial in-house synergies to make all this happen, with all these rumored EVs expected to use Ultium batteries and motors. Ultium battery packs operate at up to 800 volts, enabling 350 kW fast charging capabilities. In addition, their pouch-style cells can be stacked vertically or horizontally, giving the vehicles more flexibility and performance without sacrificing range or space.
