Is General Motors Playing Catch Up?
Check out this picture from 1912 and look right under the front passenger. What does that say?“GMC Electrics”. Hmmmm
General Motors has a long and storied history with electric vehicles, from electric trucks developed over 100 years ago to the 1966 Electrovair concept car with silver-zinc batteries. In fact, it was GM who released the very first mass produced all-electric vehicle in 1997, the EV1. Car and Driver’s review that same year was titled, “General Motors EV1 Proves to Be the Start of Something Big”.
And while the EV1 didn’t last long, it was the start of something big, it’s just taken a few years.
It’s apparent from the moment you see their website – GM is all in on electric vehicles. Front and center in this charge is the automakers Ultium batteries which promise to run longer, charge quickly, and fit almost every type of vehicle – which is powering GM’s plan to offer 30 new electric vehicles by 2025. Do a quick search through GM’s latest earnings call transcript and you’ll find over 40 mentions of EV (short for electric vehicle) and every analyst had questions around GM’s EV strategy (and a lot of question about chip shortages, but that’s a story for another time).
The point is GM’s plans to produce batteries over combustion engines is a big deal that can’t be ignored and as we get closer and closer to 2025 we’ll know whether their strategy was to catch up, keep up, or lead the way.
“For General Motors, our most significant carbon impact comes from tailpipe emissions of the vehicles that we sell — in our case, it’s 75 percent,” GM CEO Mary Barra said in message on LinkedIn. “That is why it is so important that we accelerate toward a future in which every vehicle we sell is a zero-emissions vehicle.”
Are you interested in GM, the auto industry, or in building your business acumen? If so, don’t miss our next Earnings Call Lab on Thursday, May 20 at 11 am (EST) where we’ll teach you how to break down GM’s strategy and financial metrics.
You will:
Learn our three steps to analyze an earnings call.
Work through a real company case study – this month will be GM.
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If you'd like to do some of your own analysis prior to the Earnings Call lab - check out the following links:
General Motors Earnings Call Transcript
General Motors Earnings Call Recording