Exclusive-GM aims to profit from software as it broadens its EV lineup
Send a link to a friend
[October 02, 2021] By
Ben Klayman and Paul Lienert
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co plans
to position itself as a technology platform company that is as focused
on software as it is on making electric vehicles when it meets with
investors next week, including revealing a scheduled rollout for at
least 20 EVs in the United States over the next several years.
The No. 1 U.S. automaker has said it will talk on Wednesday about its
growth strategy, EV and software platform advantages, its self-driving
vehicle business and the related financial road map as it seeks to draw
new investors and a valuation closer to that of EV market leader Tesla
Inc. A spokesman declined to disclose further details.
GM executives will provide a more detailed look at the company's plans
to spend $35 billion through 2025 on EVs and autonomous vehicles, and
will give revenue and profit margin growth targets for the five-year
period after that, according to people familiar with the plans, who
asked not to be identified.
"GM's gone from an automaker to a platform company and here are all the
things you can do with that," one of the sources said.
"The question you should ask yourself is will we see doubling of
revenues? Will we see margin expansion? Those are the sorts of things
that you're going to see over a period of time," the person added. "Stay
tuned for pretty impressive numbers on revenue and margin expansion."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Oct/02/images/ads/current/safety-tip-daily-6.png)
GM's revenue last year was almost $122.5 billion.
The strategy of GM Chief Executive Mary Barra, who took the helm in
2014, so far has lifted the company's share price from a narrow band
around its 2010 initial public offering price of $33 to almost double
that at one point. The shares were trading at around $53 on Friday.
Next week's event is aimed at persuading investors to value GM (with a
market capitalization of about $75 billion) more like Tesla ($762
billion).
MORE EV PICKUPS COMING
Also on Wednesday, GM will reveal greater detail around its planned EV
product launches beyond the upcoming GMC Hummer pickup, EV600 delivery
van and Cadillac Lyriq crossover. That includes plans for electric
versions https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/gms-pickup-money-machine-gets-technology-tuneup-2021-09-09
of GM's Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups in late
2022 and late 2023, respectively, according to the sources as well as an
industry forecast provided by AutoForecast Solutions (AFS).
Part of the investor day will include outlining what percentage of GM's
total vehicle sales will be EVs by 2030, the sources said. The automaker
in January set a goal to sell all new light vehicles with zero tailpipe
emissions by 2035.
When it comes to software, GM will discuss what its offerings allow it
to do financially and how that will make the Detroit company's business
less cyclical than auto companies have been historically, the sources
said.
Last week, GM introduced the branding for its software platform, Ultifi
- coming in 2023 - and discussed building an App store-like approach to
making the platform open for developers.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/100221pics/busine17.jpg)
A pre-production version of the GMC Hummer electric pickup is seen
in Milford, Michigan, U.S., May 14, 2021. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File
Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Oct/02/images/ads/current/graue_21BLAZER_081621.png)
Software-oriented products and services are key to GM and other automakers
sustaining profit margins during the transition to connected and electric
vehicles, but that will compel companies to build skills and workforces they
have lacked in the past.
GM also will explain how it will leverage its Ultium battery partnership with LG
Energy Solutions (LGES), a unit of LG Chem, and how scaling up production of
batteries will allow the company to cut costs, Ken Morris, GM vice president of
EVs and AVs, said at a conference this week. "We're really knitting together all
elements of our growth strategy," he said.
GM will launch at least 20 new electric vehicles in the United States - mostly
pickups, SUVs and crossovers - through early 2028, according to AFS, whose data
is based on planning information provided to suppliers by the automakers, and is
widely used across the industry.
More concrete details, including the timing, pricing and projected volumes of
future EVs, could be critical in wooing investors as GM copes with the costly
and damaging recall https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/gm-recalling-73000-bolt-evs-cost-1-billion-halts-sales-2021-08-20
of the Chevy Bolt EV for battery-related fires.
At the same time, competitors are ramping up their own EV initiatives, including
Ford Motor Co's announcement this week of an $11.4 billion blitz https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/ford-sk-invest-114-bln-add-electric-f-150-plant-three-battery-factories-2021-09-27
with Korean battery partner SK Innovation.
While GM has laid out its EV lineup into late 2022, the following year is
scheduled to feature the launches of at least five more, including the GMC
Hummer SUV, Cadillac Celestiq sedan which is expected to sell for well over
$100,000, and Chevy Blazer SUV, AFS said.
After that, GM plans to introduce another five EV models in 2024, two in 2026,
two in 2027 and another in 2028, AFS said. Among the future entries are
all-electric editions of the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon
SUVs, and a new Cadillac crossover called Symboliq.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Oct/02/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
GM intends to build many of its future EVs at five plants in North America:
Orion Township and Detroit-Hamtramck in Michigan; Spring Hill, Tennessee;
Ingersoll, Ontario, and Ramos Arizpe, in the Mexican state of Coahuila, AFS
said.
(Reporting by Ben Klayman and Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Joe White and
Matthew Lewis)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |