Thursday, July 25, 2024

GM Walks Away From Big EV Investments

From 24/7 Wall Street, July 24:

  • General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) has slowed its electric vehicle (EV) plans.
  • Investors will no longer tolerate large EV investments.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) said two things about its electric vehicle (EV) plans when it announced earnings. The first was in the shareholder letter: “As excited as we are about our EVs and our early success, we are committed to disciplined volume growth, which is the key to earning positive variable profits from our portfolio in the fourth quarter, which remains our goal.” Many thought the automaker’s investment in EVs was too aggressive. GM has slowed the process to show investors it will not overspend.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the second sign was “GM Chief Executive Mary Barra told Wall Street analysts Tuesday that GM is deferring investments to ensure the company doesn’t get ahead of demand.” This is part of a significant reversal of GM’s plan to have the capacity to produce a million EVs in 2025. Management said the target was now “flexible” based on demand....

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