Warren, Mich., Oct. 7 (BUS): General Motors plans to capitalize as the world shifts from combustion engines to battery power, promising to double its annual revenue by 2030 with a range of new electric vehicles, profitable gas-powered cars and trucks, and services such as the electronic drive system. who can handle most tasks on the road.
In announcements Wednesday ahead of a two-day investor event in suburban Detroit, the company also pledged to displace Tesla and become the leader in the US electric vehicle market, though no timeframe was given, the AP reports.
The company has also teased new upcoming electric vehicles including a nearly $30,000 Chevrolet compact SUV, as well as electric trucks from Chevrolet and GMC, Buick SUVs, and luxury cars from Cadillac. A Chevrolet Silverado electric pickup truck that can cover 400 miles (640 kilometers) per charge will be revealed at CES in January. This will be followed by an electric pickup from GMC.
President Mark Royce said the $30,000 SUV would bring serious sales to GM because it is the size of the Equinox, GM’s second best-selling vehicle. He said the company is working on an electric all-wheel drive Chevy Blazer, as well as a smaller car at a lower price. He did not give details.
Royce also said the company will set up a factory dedicated to building electric trucks, from an existing facility.
The Detroit automaker plans to make more than half of its plants in North America and China capable of making electric cars by 2030.
GM also pledged to increase its investment in electric vehicle charging networks by $750 million through 2025.
GM’s average annual revenue over the past five years is $140 billion, so doubling that would be about $280 billion. The company also pledged to raise pre-tax profit margins from the current 8% to at least 12%.
To get there, CEO Mary Barra said revenue will rise from the sale of internal combustion vehicles, with additional revenue from adding electric vehicles. GM also plans to raise money from software and subscription services including insurance and its OnStar security system, as well as its self-driving cruise company Cruise. The executives said it should earn revenue from the defense business and commercial vehicle companies BrightDrop.
By the end of the decade, GM expects $90 billion in additional annual revenue from electric vehicles, $80 billion from connected vehicles, new businesses, autonomous transportation services, software and subscription services, and commercial electric vehicles. The company said annual revenue could reach $315 billion.
Cruise CEO Dan Ammann said he’s very close to offering a driverless car rental service in San Francisco, but he didn’t say when. Once cruises start, he said, Cruise will grow rapidly and could reach $50 billion in annual revenue by 2030.
Another source of revenue will be Ultra Cruise, GM’s next generation of hands-free electronic driver assistance system that will be able to take over 95% of driving tasks. The company said the system will debut in some Cadillacs in 2023.
It will use cameras, radar and laser sensors to track navigation routes, speed limits, automatically change lanes, comply with traffic lights and turn on 2 million miles (3.2 million km) of roads in the United States and Canada. Eventually you will learn all the paved roads in both countries.
Barra said GM will continue to offer the less advanced Super Cruise driver assistance system, which will be available in 22 vehicles by 2023.
To capture the US electric vehicle market share leadership, GM plans to spend $35 billion to roll out more than 30 battery-powered vehicles globally by 2025. The company has set a goal of selling only electric passenger cars by 2035.
General Motors will have to outpace Tesla, which over the weekend posted record third-quarter sales of 241,300 electric vehicles, a 72% increase from a year earlier.
GM has not specified when it will take the lead, but Barra said GM will have a solid portfolio of affordable electric vehicles as well as reliable infrastructure and charging to come. The company also has existing plants that can be efficiently converted into built electric vehicles, she said.
“That’s why we think we’re going to attract those customers,” Barra said. “There’s so much that we have that when we put our foot on the throttle, we can really move around very profitably.”
EV Tesla has had to spend billions to build massive new assembly plants from the ground up near Austin, Texas, and in Germany and China.
While General Motors has lofty visions for the future, it is currently struggling with the global shortage of computer chips. Third-quarter sales are down about 33%, and General Motors has lost nearly two percentage points of its U.S. market share since 2019. The company accounts for 15.2% of the market so far this year, according to Edmunds.com numbers.
General Motors and other automakers have been forced to temporarily close factories due to a chip shortage. This has caused a worldwide shortage of new vehicles and raised prices. GM’s average sales price has hit a record high of more than $48,000 so far this year, according to Edmonds.
Barra said GM is looking at options for future chips, working internally and with partners. “We will make sure we have the supplies we need,” she said.
She sees the situation improving this year until next year, but she admits that no one knows for sure.
Shares of General Motors closed Wednesday down about 1% to $53.93.
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