According to the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index Automobile Study, Americans are becoming less satisfied with their vehicles. The overall satisfaction index dropped one point this year to 79.

Mainstream brands held steady at 79, while luxury brands slipped a point as they fell to 80. The biggest drop came from smaller brands, which are grouped into an “others” category, as they plunged 9% to 74.

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Jumping into specifics, Subaru was deemed the most satisfying brand with a score of 85. It was followed by Mazda and Toyota in second with 82, while Buick, GMC, and Honda tied for third at 81.

Stellantis had a dismal showing as Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram all fell. In fact, all four brands found themselves at the bottom of the list with Chrysler and Ram tied for dead last at 69.

2025 American Customer Satisfaction Index For Mainstream Brands

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Interestingly, satisfaction with most vehicle related components and experiences was largely unchanged. However, there were drops related to technology and safety. The latest study also introduced two new categories – expected future resale or trade-in value and driving distance on a full charge or full tank of gas – and consumers weren’t exactly thrilled with either, especially for EVs.

On the luxury side of the equation, Lexus was top dog with a score of 87. They were followed by Mercedes (82) as well as Cadillac and Tesla, which tied for third at 81. BMW finished last with a score of 75 and they dropped four points from 2024.

2025 American Customer Satisfaction Index For Luxury Brands

ACSI

Luxury buyers were less satisfied with a number of things including driving performance, exteriors, interiors, and technology. There were also drops in safety and dependability.

Aside from the mainstream versus luxury divide, people were less satisfied with hybrids and EVs. Hybrids fell two points to 80, while electric vehicles dropped four points to fall to 73. This stands in contrast to gas-powered models, which held steady with a satisfaction index of 80.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index noted that with 22% of borrowers opting for 84-month loans, there will likely be an increased emphasis on reliability and dependability as consumers are holding onto their vehicles for longer. Ram spotted this shift awhile ago and they recently launched a new 10-year/100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty.

ACSI

Big trucks and SUVs continue to be the backbone of GMC’s business, and American buyers show no signs of losing interest. The Sierra full-size pickup and Yukon full-size SUV remain the brand’s heavy-hitters, and while they’ve been strong performers, GMC isn’t sitting still. Designers and engineers are already deep into developing the next versions of their most in-demand models.

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GMC, much like sibling brand Chevrolet, isn’t stepping away from internal combustion engines just yet. That’s proving to be a practical move as EV demand has cooled, in part due to the rollback of federal incentives under the Trump administration. But electrification at GMC doesn’t start and end with battery-electric vehicles. Plug-in hybrids are now part of the plan.

Plug-In Powertrains and Production Plans

GM CEO Mary Barra has confirmed that plug-in hybrid models will join the lineup in 2027. That same year, GM plans to ramp up production of the Sierra at its Orion Township facility in Michigan. According to Automotive News, this timing may align with a mid-cycle refresh for the Sierra, followed by updates to the heavy-duty version in 2028.

These refreshed models are expected to feature electrified powertrains as their main upgrade, alongside tweaks to styling and onboard tech. The all-electric Sierra EV could also see its own redesign in 2028, potentially bringing it more in line with its combustion-powered counterpart. As for the related Yukon and Yukon XL SUVs, a redesign is reportedly planned for 2029, and they too are expected to adopt plug-in hybrid options.

Future Updates Across the Lineup

The rest of GMC’s portfolio is also set for change. Autonews reports that the fully electric Hummer, which began production in late 2021, will likely undergo a mid-cycle refresh around 2028 for both pickup and SUV variants. The current-generation Arcadia, launched in late 2023, could be due for an update by 2027 or 2028. Meanwhile, the Canyon midsize pickup is expected to get a refresh in 2029, six years after its debut. The GMC Terrain is also quite fresh, so don’t expect a facelift before 2028 or 2029.

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The aging GMC Savana van is expected to stick around at least through 2026, with some reports suggesting a potential production expansion. First introduced in 1996 and largely unchanged since then, the Savana continues on alongside its Chevrolet Express twin.

Growing Sales Driven By the Full-Size Segment

Sam Fiorani, Vice President of Global Vehicle Forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, pointed to the strong position GMC holds in the full-size market: “Trucks are such an important part of the U.S. market, and GMC has cornered the segments that are a bit more upscale than Ford or Chevrolet.”

That strategy appears to be paying off. GMC posted its best-ever first-half sales in 2025, reaching 315,906 units, an 11 percent increase over last year. The Sierra alone accounted for 166,409 of those sales, up 12 percent. The Yukon followed with 48,190 units sold, a 22 percent increase.

The only drop came from the Terrain compact SUV, down 34 percent with 32,361 units sold. On the other end, the Hummer EV saw the largest percentage gain in the first half of 2025, climbing 74 percent to 7,987 units. Still, it remains GMC’s second slowest-selling model, just ahead of the newly introduced Sierra EV, which logged 2,774 units in the same period.

General Motors has finally acknowledged the obvious: no one is buying the Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV. As we recently noted, the company only sold 2,383 Silverado EVs and 1,249 Sierra EVs in the first quarter.

Those are dreadful numbers, and they appear to have been the final nail in the coffin for plans to turn Orion Assembly into an EV plant. The facility was originally slated to build electric trucks in 2024, but that date was eventually pushed back to late 2025 to “better manage capital investment, while aligning with evolving EV demand.”

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Fast forward to today, and GM has thrown in the towel on its electric truck plans. Instead, Orion Assembly will now build gas-powered full-size SUVs and trucks starting in early 2027. The move means the plant will likely produce the redesigned Chevrolet Silverado, Tahoe, and Suburban as well as the GMC Sierra, Yukon, and Yukon XL.

As for the Silverado EV and Sierra EV, they’ll continue to be built at the nearby Factory Zero in Hamtramck. That facility also builds the GMC Hummer EVs as well as the Cadillac Escalade IQ.

The Gas-Powered Chevrolet Blazer Lives

The aging Chevrolet Blazer was expected to be discontinued, but it’s getting a reprieve as production will begin at Spring Hill Manufacturing in 2027. That facility is best known for making the electric Cadillac Lyriq and Vistiq, but it also builds the dated XT5 and XT6.

Speaking of EV plants doing double duty, Fairfax Assembly is slated to begin building the 2027 Chevrolet Bolt EV by the end of this year. However, it’s getting some company in the form of the gas-powered Chevrolet Equinox, which will be built at the plant in mid-2027.

GM said the move will help support sales of the popular crossover, which was “up more than 30% year-over-year in the first quarter.” However, it’s important to note the model is currently built in Mexico, and this could have played a role in shifting some production stateside.

Unsurprisingly, GM didn’t mention tariffs or slower-than-expected electric vehicle adoption in today’s announcement. Instead, they packaged it in Trump-friendly form as CEO Mary Barra said, “Today’s announcement demonstrates our ongoing commitment to build vehicles in the US and to support American jobs.”

She added, “We’re focused on giving customers choice and offering a broad range of vehicles they love.” That’s a not so subtle hint that gas-powered vehicles aren’t going away anytime soon.

GM said the investments total around $4 billion, which is roughly the same amount of money they were investing in transforming Orion Assembly into an EV truck hub. This begs the question of how much money was squandered on the bad EV bet.

General Motors is having a great year when it comes to electric vehicles. Sure, some reports indicate sales might be cooling off in some corners of the market, but for GM, things are hot. The company says its EV sales have jumped 94 percent year over year, and one of its brands, Chevrolet, now ranks second only to Tesla in U.S. EV sales.

That’s not a small gap, though. Tesla still held nearly 44 percent of the U.S. EV market in the first quarter of the year, with 128,100 vehicles sold, or roughly as much as everyone else combined. However, Tesla’s May figures aren’t available yet, making a direct comparison with GM impossible.

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Still, GM managed to sell 62,830 electric cars, trucks, and SUVs between January and the end of May. The first quarter alone saw a 94 percent year-over-year jump, and that momentum hasn’t let up. May turned out to be the company’s second-best month ever for EV sales, pushing GM to a 15.5 percent share of the current EV market.

Chevrolet carried much of that weight, accounting for over half of those numbers with roughly 37,000 deliveries during the same period. Leading the charge was the electric Equinox, which became GM’s best-selling EV with 21,804 units delivered.

Strong Numbers and Stronger Momentum

“Customers are responding in record numbers to our world-class portfolio of electric and gas-powered vehicles,” said Rory Harvey, executive VP and president of global markets. “In the first two months of the second quarter, we more than doubled our EV sales compared to the same period last year.” Lots of those sales are coming from the top EV seller, Tesla.

In fact, according to Scott Bell, vice president of global Chevrolet, over half of the sales GM has this year are conquest sales, meaning customers are switching over from other brands. He told the Detroit Free Press that the Equinox is a major player here.

“It’s certainly the most affordable EV out there with that kind of range. It is by far the leader in the clubhouse; it doubles our Blazer volume easily on a monthly basis,” said Bell. “Once you convert to an EV, you’re not leaving. Especially once you’ve invested in the infrastructure, a home charger, 86% of them will stay.”

Interestingly, General Motors’ figures are even more impressive when compared to Ford’s. The Blue Oval brand delivered 34,132 cars during the first five months of the year, marking an 8.3 percent drop from the same period in 2024. That’s right, Chevrolet outsold Ford, and that doesn’t take into account any of the sales from Cadillac and GMC. No doubt, some of that success comes from GM’s wider range of available EVs.

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At the same time, both GM and Ford are doing just fine when it comes to their combustion-engine businesses. Hybrids are selling great, too. We’ll get a clearer picture of the EV sales landscape soon. GM will announce its second-quarter sales numbers on July 1. Other automakers will no doubt do the same around the same time.