GM tells suppliers it plans to increase production on EVs by more than six-times

General Motors told its suppliers that it plans to increase the production of its electric trucks and the Cadillac Lyriq SUV by more than six times in an attempt to keep pace with industry leaders.

As the electric automotive market continues to become more competitive and has been dominated by smaller, EV-only companies, legacy automakers are ramping production and flexing their capacities in an effort to catch up. Ford recently announced that it would expand production of the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning, aiming to produce 600,000 electric units in just 22 months.

GM is now taking the same approach as Ford as a new report from Reuters shows that the automaker is planning to increase production rates of the GMC Hummer EV, the Chevrolet Silverado EV, and Cadillac Lyriq significantly. Production figures could reach a total of 46,000 units in 2022, an over 6x increase from original figures of 7,000 this year.

The Hummer EV and Silverado EV will have their production capacities increased from 3,800 vehicles in 2022 to 21,000.

The increase in production matches several points GM CEO Mary Barra made last week during the company’s quarterly earnings call, where she indicated that the company would aim to deliver 400,000 electric cars by the end of 2023. Barra mentioned GM’s recent Michigan investment, which will give the company a production capacity of over one million units annually in North America by mid-decade.

During the Earnings Call, Barra mentioned that reservations for each of the aforementioned vehicles had reached impressive levels. The GMC Hummer EV has 59,000 reservations currently, while the Silverado EV has reached more than 110,000 orders since being unveiled last month. Additionally, the Lyriq has strong demand, Barra said, indicating that “customer interest in the Cadillac LYRIQ is growing so quickly that we’ll forgo a new round of reservations and begin taking customer orders soon after the Debut Edition launches in March.”

Lyriq production is planned to increase to 25,000 units in 2022, a drastic increase from the 3,200 planned production vehicles.