General Motors’ recent shakeup of its model range has led to cancellations of various vehicle programs designated for the North American market, mostly comprising of large cars, SUVs and trucks. This in turn has caused GM’s American design studios in Detroit to be less inundated with work, while other studios around the world are struggling to keep up with the load – especially those focusing on small cars.

In response GM has shifted some of its small car design projects from Europe, Australia and South Korea to the United States to spread the workload more evenly.

The information comes from company spokesman Mike Albano, who revealed to Automotive News that the Warren design center in Michigan will eventually handle work for two vehicle architectures that were originally meant to be developed in Europe. "We have had a couple studios where some projects have been canceled," he explained. "We have other studios that are totally overloaded. We just need to level that work around the globe."

While Albano wouldn't identify the vehicle architectures, he said that work had been shifted for a number of small and subcompact vehicles.

GM is also increasingly utilizing its resources in new markets such as India and China. The design of the recent Buick Invicta Concept, for example, was handled by teams in both Detroit and China, while the GMC Denali E85 Two-Mode Hybrid Concept was designed almost exclusively in Australia.

Buick Invicta Concept

GMC Denali E85 Two-Mode Hybrid Concept