General Motors said last week it incurred over $1.6 billion in costs due to a change in its EV strategy.
In a new update at its third quarter earnings call, the Detroit automaker said on Tuesday it is also stopping production of the BrightDrop electric delivery van.
Addressing the billion-dollar impairment, CEO Mary Barra guaranteed that GM’s “retail product lineup remains unchanged.”
The comments were made media reports suggesting that the company was halting production of several EV models in the US.
“However, we have decided to stop BrightDrop production at CAMI Assembly and assess the site for future opportunities,” the chief executive stated, adding that it was “not a decision we made lightly” due to the impact on employees.
Manufacturing operations in the Canadian assembly plant had already been suspended since May, with GM citing demand.
By then, 500 people were laid off.
BrightDrop was unveiled in 2021 as a start-up backed by General Motors. The launch took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a global e-commerce surge.
Later, the startup was integrated into the Detroit automaker’s fleet business, GM Envolve.
According to Barra, the production shutdown announced on Tuesday is justified mostly by a sluggish market for commercial EVs.
“The commercial electric van market has been developing much slower than expected,” the CEO said, while “changes to the regulatory framework and fleet incentives have made the business even more challenging.”
The impact of the decision has not been reflected in the third quarter financial results, with the company stating that its “actions on BrightDrop and our ongoing work to reset our capacity will cause us to recognize a charge in the fourth quarter.”
Mary Barra said the automaker estimates EV losses to decrease starting from 2026.
“By acting swiftly and decisively to address overcapacity, we expect to reduce EV losses in 2026 and beyond, making us much better positioned as demand stabilizes,” the chief executive added.
Although BrightDrop promised lower maintenance costs on electric commercial vehicles, several recalls in 2024 and 2025 hurt confidence in the brand.
To rebuild trust, GM moved BrightDrop under Chevrolet’s commercial division, hoping to leverage Chevrolet’s reputation as a reliable brand.
Approached by TechCrunch on Tuesday, General Motors said that that BrightDrop dealers will “continue to sell and service vehicles as we work through remaining inventory.”
Last month, Amazon confirmed it was piloting General Motors’ BrightDrop electric delivery vans.
The pilot involved about a dozen vans, according to the company.
“We’re committed to having 100,000 electric delivery vehicles on the road by 2030, and we regularly test various vehicle options,” an Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg back then.
The news caused Rivian shares to fall as concerns on the two companies’ exclusive partnership for EDV deployment rose.
Amazon, which is also Rivian‘s largest institutional shareholder, was one of the first backers of the Irvine-based EV maker in 2019.
By then, Rivian committed to deploy 100,000 commercial vans to the retail giant by 2030.
The company founded by Jeff Bezos introduced the custom-built vans in its fleet in mid-2022.
Amazon had more than 30,000 Rivian vans on US roads as of June 2025, having added 10,000 units in the first six months of the year.
Last month, the EV maker’s CEO RJ Scaringe reaffirmed that the Irvine-based EV maker’s target of delivering 100,000 EDVs to the retail giant, further adding that the company was already “thinking about what comes beyond that initial 100,000 unit contract.”
