Dive Brief:
- General Motors is leaning into making cheaper and longer range electric vehicles as it aims to expand market share in the growing segment, CEO Mary Barra said Tuesday during the company’s Q3 earnings call.
- As part of those efforts, the automaker is focusing on educating its dealership network on EV technology to boost sales, including training for more than 7,000 Chevrolet sales employees, the CEO added.
- “People are leaving these meetings energized and just as confident in our EV portfolio as they are in our winning ICE products,” Barra said. She expects the training will yield dividends in 2025 as GM continues expanding its EV portfolio, including a lower-cost version of its Chevrolet Silverado EV offering a range of nearly 500 miles.
Dive Insight:
Selling more EVs would provide a boost to GM, whose global Q3 sales fell 8.8% year over year to 1.48 million vehicles, according to its earnings release. GM’s U.S. YoY sales for the quarter fell about 2%.
Despite the sales drop, the company reported quarterly revenues of $48.8 billion, up 10.7% from a year ago, marking four consecutive quarters that the company has exceeded analysts’ revenue estimates. GM’s Q3 YoY net income held steady at just over $3 billion.
The automaker reported sales of 32,000 EVs in the U.S. during Q3, which was enough to make it the number two seller in the segment, according to the company, behind Tesla.
Barra said the company will expand its EV lineup early next year to include a full range of battery-powered Equinox and Blazer models, as well as the GMC Sierra pickup.
GM CFO Paul Jacobson cautioned the company’s overall vehicle production could be hindered in Q4 due to supply chain disruptions caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, as well as seasonal trends because of fewer work days during the holiday season.
Jacobson does not expect these issues to impact EVs, however, and noted that Q4 sales in the segment could receive a lift from lower pricing and incentives. The company maintains a stock of between 10 and 12 EVs per dealer as part of its strategy to raise customer awareness, he said.
“Our EV momentum is growing,” he said to analysts on Tuesday. “We are on track to produce and wholesale approximately 200,000 EVs this year and reach variable profit positive in Q4.”
