In case you just woke up from a two-year coma, things have… changed a bit in the automotive world. General Motors just shared its Q4 2025 results, and despite taking a $3.1 billion hit from tariffs, things were generally pretty positive. That’s impressive considering the company’s lineup is missing the one powertrain everyone else thinks is the golden goose right now: hybrids.
2024 – 2025 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray exteriorChevrolet
It’s true. Peruse Cadillac, Buick, and GMC and everything there is either electric or combustion with no intermingling of the two. Technically speaking, Chevrolet has two hybrids, but since they are the Corvette E-Ray and insanely fast Corvette ZR1X, they are neither mainstream nor efficient. Meanwhile, the powertrain everyone invested in and is now killing off – battery-electric – is still widely available at GM. And the company isn’t significantly changing course on that. Not yet, anyway.
It begs the question. Does GM see something other automakers are missing? Or is this a major gamble on an automotive future that’s more uncertain than ever?
“We’re Still Growing Share”
2024 – 2026 Chevrolet Trax 2nd Gen SUV – front 3/4 angle in greenChevrolet
Speaking to investors during the company’s Q4 conference call, GM CEO Mary Barra didn’t offer any clear picture of how hybrids fit into the grand plan. However, she certainly suggested that there’s very little initiative – or need – to move in that direction.
“In the last four years, even as others have brought on hybrids, we’re still growing our [market] share. And that, I think, indicates that we have the right product portfolio.”
Barra isn’t wrong. GM’s market share in 2025 was the highest it’s been in 10 years. That was accomplished not through a wide range of hybrids like Toyota has, or even a diverse lineup of vehicles. 2025 was GM’s best year ever for crossovers, led by the redesigned Chevrolet Equinox that launched for the 2025 model year. Sales jumped 32% year over year to end at 273,356 units sold. The Buick Enclave rose 50%, and the GMC Acadia climbed 12%.
Top Five Best-Selling GM SUVs/Crossovers In 2025
Model
2025 Sales
% VS 2024
Chevrolet Equinox
274,356
+32.1%
Chevrolet Trax
206,339
+2.8%
Chevrolet Traverse
148,278
+40.1%
Chevrolet Tahoe
114,202
+8.6%
Chevrolet Trailblazer
101,363
-2.9%
“From a hybrid perspective, again, we’re looking at, where are the segments that there’s the most demand for hybrids that are important from our total portfolio,” said Barra. “So I’m not going to give you any specifics other than we’re looking segment by segment, for what we feel that we need to have to make sure we compete.”
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Based on Barra’s comments and GM’s largely successful sales year, there doesn’t appear to be any segments at the moment that could benefit from a hybrid. Truck sales are up, SUVs across all lines are largely up with just a few exceptions. The Chevrolet Malibu is dead, so there’s no Camry competitor, and GM’s cheapest entries, the Chevrolet Trax and Buick Envista, posted positive numbers.
Buyers For Electrified Cars Are Going Full EV
2026 Cadillac Lyriq-V from the rear three-quarter angleCadillac
Perhaps if GM’s EV sales were faltering, the company might take a closer look at hybrids. But 2025 was a banner year for electric offerings despite the big fourth-quarter hit from the canceled federal tax credit. GM says nearly 100,000 new customers bought one of their EVs, led by the Equinox EV at 57,945 sales. That’s a 100% increase from 2024, and Cadillac added another 49,000 sales across its expanding EV lineup.
But we all know that 2026 will look very different for EVs. We already have a taste of that based on Q4 2025 sales from pretty much every automaker, GM included. The Equinox EV that did so well in 2025 made its bacon in the first three quarters, because sales plummeted over 70% in Q4. The Blazer EV dropped 77%. Cadillac’s best-selling SUV, the Lyriq, dropped 46%.
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Will Barra and GM feel differently about hybrids in six months? That is unknown, but Barra seems confident in the company’s current plan of cost-cutting and pivoting to more ICE production.
“We think we have the right portfolio,” said Barra. “We have an incredibly strong internal combustion engine portfolio. Unlike many others, we invested in having a dedicated EV platform that gives us a foundation for the portfolio we have. EV adoption is going to grow over time. We think we are well positioned there. We were very thoughtful about the way that we adjusted capacity in light of a very dramatic change of the regulatory environment as well, eliminating the consumer tax credit.”
Silverado Light Duty: Stars & Steel Special EditionChevrolet
In short, if you’re patiently waiting for an Equinox hybrid, or PHEV Buick, or even a range-extended Chevy Silverado pickup, you might be waiting a long time.
“We know EV drivers don’t often go back to ICE, so we’ll continue executing our plan to dramatically reduce costs and be well-positioned for the future,” said Barra. “We are also operating in a US regulatory and policy environment that is increasingly aligned with customer demand. This allows us to onshore more production, to help meet strong demand for our ICE vehicles.”
