GM changes EV production targets amid slow demand
General Motors is pulling back its electric vehicle production target this year and adjusting profit targets because demand for EVs is not growing at the pace initially expected.
GM CFO Paul Jacobson said Tuesday that GM would trim its targeted production of its new EVs in 2024 from 200,000 to 300,000 to 200,000 to 250,000.
Jacobson, who spoke Tuesday during the Deutsche Bank Global Auto Industry Conference, also said that GM will invest $850 million in its self-driving car subsidiary, Cruise, starting this month to help relaunch it.
Despite the slower-than-expected demand growth for EVs across the industry, Jacobson said GM had strong EV sales in May, selling about 9,500 EVs in the month. The adjustment to production and profit targets is “100% demand-driven,” he said.
“On the supply side, we’ve overcome the (battery) module issues. We were on track to produce 300,000 vehicles this year,” Jacobson said. “We’ve been very consistent about building a platform and growing EVs off that and doing it in a way that meets customer expectations. We don’t want to give out a production range and blindly produce … and end up with a lot of inventory because the markets just not there yet … then do deep discounting.”
GM’s retail EV portfolio this year includes the GMC Hummer pickup and SUV, Cadillac Lyriq, Chevrolet Blazer EV, Chevrolet Equinox EV, Chevy Silverado EV RST, GMC Sierra EV and coming soon the Cadillac Escalade IQ and hand-built Cadillac Celestiq.
Jacobson said GM ended the first quarter with 63 days of inventory, which is a healthy supply. At the end of May, GM had 59 days of inventory. He said the automaker is having a strong second quarter, which is on track to outperform GM’s first-quarter adjusted pre-tax income of nearly $4 billion.
This is a developing story.
Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
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