General Motors brings its all-electric BrightDrop van to Chevrolet brand | Wilnesh News

Detroit – General Motors is integrating its all-electric BrightDrop commercial vans into the Chevrolet brand to increase sales, accessibility and recognition of the vehicles.

Sandor Piszar, vice president of GM Envolve fleet operations, said the change is expected to expand sales and service locations from a handful of dealers to Chevrolet’s large network of North American dealers, which includes more than 500 commercial-focused stores in North America.

“It has the power of the Chevrolet brand behind it,” he told CNBC. “This will definitely increase sales. It helps our customers who choose to purchase electric vehicles easily work with the Chevrolet dealer they now know and trust for their other fleet needs.”

The number of new dealers will depend on the number of vans chosen to be sold and serviced. To sell commercial electric vehicles, dealers must have specific vehicle lifts, service bays and employee training, among other things.

GM declined to disclose the average cost for dealers to become certified to sell BrightDrop products, citing fees that vary by store.

BrightDrop currently sells two all-electric commercial vans, the Zevo 400 and Zevo 600, for tasks such as package delivery. Starting later this year, starting with the 2025 model year, the trucks will be renamed the Chevrolet BrightDrop 400 and 600 trucks.

“Chevrolet is GM’s best-selling fleet brand,” Pisa said. “This is absolutely perfect for GM Envolve and Chevrolet.”

Thursday’s announcement is the latest change for BrightDrop, which GM launched as a wholly owned subsidiary in 2021 and integrated into the company’s fleet business last year.

General Motors has high hopes of turning BrightDrop into a new, lucrative growth business for the automaker, but sales and revenue are not believed to have met the company’s original expectations.

BrightDrop expects to generate $1 billion in revenue by 2023.

The automaker only sells approx. 500 BrightDrop trucks 2023.

The trucks are built at GM’s CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario.