Recently, General Motors released its third quarter financial report, with a revenue of approximately $44.131 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.35%. The net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders was $3.038 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 7.32%.
Regarding the decline in profits in the third quarter, General Motors stated that part of the reason was due to the impact of the UAW strike. According to General Motors' estimates, the company may lose an additional $200 million per week of strikes. It is worth noting that General Motors has withdrawn its full year profit forecast due to the uncertainty brought about by the auto workers' strike. Previously, the company had expected pre interest and tax profits to reach $12 billion to $14 billion in 2023.
General Motors CEO Mary Bora also stated that due to the UAW strike affecting revenue and profits, the company will slow down its electric vehicle strategy and prioritize profit targets over sales targets. Mary Bora stated at the financial report meeting that the company is optimistic that an agreement with the union will be reached soon. In fact, on October 26th, General Motors and Stellantis engaged in intensive negotiations with UAW to end a six week long strike.
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General Motors reiterated in its financial report that its target of producing 1 million electric vehicles in the US and China markets by 2025 has not changed. However, it is not easy for General Motors to achieve this plan.
In terms of terminal sales, General Motors sold approximately 1.619 million vehicles globally in the third quarter, of which 674300 were sold in the US market, a year-on-year increase of 21%. The performance of the Chinese market is relatively sluggish.
Photographed by journalist Zhang Jian (data image)
The Chinese market is crucial for its global growth strategy and is adopting a multi brand strategy. In the coming years, General Motors plans to leverage its global architecture to increase the number of products from Buick, Chevrolet, and Cadillac brands in China, and continue to develop business under local brands such as Baojun and Wuling, while accelerating the development and launch of various brands of electric vehicles in China General Motors emphasized in its financial report that it will continue to promote the landing of electric vehicles in the Chinese market in the future.
General Motors has always expressed a positive attitude towards the transformation of electrification to the outside world, and has also announced investing $35 billion in the fields of electrification and intelligence. In addition to increasing its own research and development, General Motors announced with Honda a year and a half ago that they would jointly develop an electric vehicle with a cost of less than $30000 and plan to launch it in 2027. But on October 26th, both confirmed that they would abandon this plan due to lower than expected market demand and constantly changing market conditions.
General Motors spokesperson Daryl Harrison stated that other partnerships between the two companies are still ongoing, including the agreement for General Motors to produce the 2024 Prologue EV pure electric SUV for Honda. The two companies have also established a cooperative relationship in hydrogen fuel cells and autonomous vehicle.
Mary Barra explained that General Motors is adjusting its electric vehicle strategy, and previous attempts to drive the entry-level market will no longer be its future goal. General Motors' current main focus will be on reducing future vehicle production costs. Slowing down the production of electric vehicles can help protect market pricing. Although General Motors' performance in the field of electrification is still on the rise, the company's goal of achieving profitability in electric vehicles by 2025 remains unchanged.