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GM Wants to “Electrify Everything”

December 22, 2021 admin

As part of a $37 billion program, General Motors plans to bring at least 30 battery-electric vehicles to market by mid-decade — but it is expanding its electrification strategy to power up pretty much anything “already on the road,” as well as on the water, it announced on Wednesday.

GM EV Components Textron GSE tug — GM looking to electrify “everything,” including offering conversion kits as well as packages for vehicles like this jet tug.

The largest of the Detroit automakers’ Electric Connect and Cruise eCrate systems will allow owners to swap out their conventional gas engines in classic vehicles like the Camaro and E-10 pickup for battery-drive technology. GM also is looking to power up cargo tractors and other airport gear, while also working up ways to bring electric propulsion to the marine industry.

“GM has an established strategy, network of integrators and co-development agreements to apply an extensive array of components and solutions to a broad range of customers and use cases,” said Travis Hester, GM vice president of Electric Vehicle Growth Operations, in a statement Wednesday.

The carmaker estimates there’s a “total addressable market” for swapping conventional drive systems for battery power that could approach $20 billion by 2030.

“As companies across many industries look to reduce their environmental impact, GM is uniquely positioned to serve as a leader not only through exciting new EVs across our brands, but through additional technology applications,” said Hester, “and we look forward to bringing customers — existing and new — along with us on our zero-emissions journey.”

SEMA K5 Blazer EV front — Chevrolet showcased a 1977 K5 Blazer converted to all-electric propulsion at SEMA360 in 2020.

Converting to electric

Demand for conversion technology is already on the rise. There’s been a flood of startups converting classic vehicles, including vintage Camaros, Porsches, Volkswagens and Land Rovers, to run on battery power.

GM targeted the conversion market with the launch of the eCOPO Camaro project car at the SEMA Show several years back, and has revealed other project cars like Project X and the 1977 K-5 Blazer. It is getting ready to provide what are essentially plug-and-play packages, like the Cruise eCrate and Electric Connect, to simplify the process. The goal is to allow owners and conversion companies to make a swap with a minimum of effort.

The Detroit automaker isn’t the only one sensing an opportunity here, however. Ford recently demonstrated the potential for its own Mach-E crate motors, which, as the name implies, uses hardware and software borrowed from its Mustang Mach-E battery-electric SUV. The conversion package can be plugged into classic products such as a 1978 Ford F-100 pickup. Volkswagen and Tesla have also gotten into the game, the latter automaker’s electric drive technology used by one conversion fan on a Rolls-Royce once owned by Johnny Cash.

Multiple applications for electric motors

But GM’s strategy isn’t limited to road-going vehicles.

It’s teaming up with Textron Ground Support Equipment Inc., a Textron subsidiary, to power up ground support equipment like the cargo and baggage tractors, belt loaders and Tug equipment found at commercial airports. Electrifying those vehicles promises to reduce emissions, as well as operating costs, while improving reliability, experts claim.

Commercial fleets, in general are showing strong interest in making the switch to battery power. GM this month began delivering the first of its BrightDrop delivery vans, joining competitors like Ford and Rivian in a market that could rapidly grow this decade, according to industry forecasts.

The opportunity to electrify isn’t limited to ground vehicles, however. A number of manufacturers are looking at ways to harness battery and hydrogen fuel-cell technology for other transportation and cargo applications. Rolls-Royce recently set a speed record with an aircraft outfitted with one of its drive systems. Airbus just released plans for a hydrogen turbofan system.

GM sees big opportunities coming in the marine world. It recently announced a strategic investment in the Seattle-based Pure Watercraft. The move, the automaker said, “represents an opportunity to bring EV technology to the marine industry and help preserve enjoyment of the outdoors for future generations. Together, the two companies will develop and commercialize battery electric watercraft, to accelerate the transition to electric mobility.”

GM also has been exploring ways to electrify the rails. Last June it announced another partnership with Wabtec, one of the largest providers of freight locomotives. Under a non-binding agreement, the automaker will provide both battery and hydrogen fuel-cell systems for prototypes like the Wabtec FLXdrive. Eventually, the technology could replace the conventional diesel-hybrid systems that dominate the rails today.

Dealers Running Dry, Even as GM Set to Halt Production for Two Weeks

September 3, 2021 admin

The shortage of microchips continues to drag on, forcing General Motors to idle virtually all of its North American production operations for as long as two weeks — though the automaker could yet extend this latest shutdown.

Wentzville Assembly — General Motors is basically shutting down its North American manufacturing operations due to the chip shortage.

GM is just one on a long list that includes virtually every automaker hit by the shortage — and its impact is being felt just about everywhere, from Stuttgart to Detroit to Beijing.

Industry planners hoped to put the shortages behind them by now. Barely a month ago, GM had signaled it had come up with new sources for some of the chips it needed. But that clearly didn’t meet its requirements.

No light at the end of this tunnel

The automaker will either close or extend closures at plants, such as the one in Wentzville, Missouri producing its Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups, another in Canada building the Chevy Equinox SUV, and the Ramos Arizpe facility in Mexico that assembles products like the Chevy Blazer SUV. All four of its North American brands will feel the heat.

Like some of its competitors, the automaker had been partially assembling vehicles, where possible, and then storing them until it could come up with the missing chips and electronic components. So, in some instances, GM will try to take advantage of the upcoming closures. It has secured enough chips, in some cases, to let it “repair and ship unfinished vehicles,” it said in a statement.

It was not revealed just how much production GM will lose due to the coming closures but some of those plants routinely produce more than 60 vehicles an hour on two or three shifts, many working overtime — when possible — to help rebuild inventories already drawn down as a result of last year’s pandemic closures.

Empty lots

Company officials indicated GM dealers now have barely half their normal stock of cars, trucks and crossovers which, this time of year, would run between 60- and 70-days’ supply.

Among the dealers TheDetroitBureau.com talked to, some indicated they have less than 10 vehicles in stock and are not sure when they will get more, especially when it comes to popular product lines like the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.

And they’re not alone. Toyota has barely 10 days worth of some of its most popular vehicles, like the RAV4 SUV. The automaker last month warned it would cut global production by 40% this month, so shortages could, if possible, get even worse. In recent days, Stellantis, Nissan and Ford, among others, have announced further cuts.

GM Ramos Arizpe plant — The company is idling its Ramos Arizpe facility in Mexico where it builds the Chevy Blazer.

Consumers paying the price

In turn, customers have been forced to either wait, extend their search or, in many cases, pay at or above sticker price. Some social media reports have highlighted dealer surcharges ranging anywhere from $5,000 to as much as $40,000 above MSRP.

That helped drive average transaction prices to a record of more than $41,000 in July, according to Cox Automotive, J.D. Power and other analysts. The figure is widely expected to have run even higher in August.

Sales for the month came in at an estimated, annualized rate of about 13.1 million, down from as high as 18.5 million earlier in the year.

The Labor Day weekend is normally one of the busier holidays at U.S. dealer showrooms but there is little hope, according to industry insiders, that it will generate anywhere near the normal levels seen in past years.

Hyundai, General Motors Double Down on Flying Car Plans

June 14, 2021 admin

Top executives at Hyundai and General Motors reconfirmed each automaker’s commitment to produce a viable flying car, perhaps as soon as 2025, but more likely by the end of this decade.

Hyundai’s air taxi service could be operational as soon as 2025, Global COO Jose Munoz said.

Hyundai Global Chief Operating Officer Jose Munoz, who also heads up the company’s North American operations, told a group of investors and media that an air taxi service could be operational by 2025, if everything goes well.

He noted his company is ahead of its original timetable for producing a useable flying car, originally 2028.

“We see this market as a significant growth opportunity,” Munoz said Monday during the Reuters Events Car of the Future conference. The South Korean automaker’s new CEO, Euisun Chung, essentially declared the automaker was shifting to becoming a mobility company in the near-term future.

He specifically noted plans for flying taxis during his introduction as Chairman last October and the earlier debut of Hyundai’s $52 billion “Strategy 2025” plan which called for battery-electric cars and “personal air vehicles.”

In addition to luxury EVs for the road, GM revealed the Cadillac VTOL flying car concept at CES 2021 in January.

Hyundai’s not alone

Other automakers are also putting resources — human and financial — behind the effort to develop a flying car, including GM, Toyota, Daimler AG, Aston Martin and Geely. GM’s top tech officer, Pamela Fletcher, offered a more tempered view.

“I think that there’s a long pathway here,” she said, according to Reuters. “2030 is probably a real commercial inflection point.”

GM earlier this year rolled out a Cadillac flying concept vehicle at CES 2021. “It’s a very nascent space,” Fletcher later noted. “There’s a lot of work to be done on the regulatory side, as well as the actual technology side.”

In January, the company teased a four-rotor prototype dubbed the VTOL (vertical-take-off-and-landing), is “designed for the moment when time is of the essence and convenience is everything,” said Michael Simcoe, GM’s vice president of global design, at the time.Details about the VTOL were scarce, though Simcoe did note the concept would use a 90 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. The flying car would be targeted at Cadillac customers.

GM Grows Board of Directors’ Diversity with New Whitman, Tatum

March 25, 2021 admin

Meg Whitman, a technology leader and former head of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, will join the General Motors Board of Directors.

What was already the most diverse board of directors in the automotive industry just go a little more so, General Motors Co. expanding its board, adding Meg Whitman and Mark Tatum to fill the spots.

The move grows GM’s board from 12 to 13 members. Adding Whitman, a former Republican gubernatorial candidate in California and CEO of Quibi Holdings LLC, a media startup, results in women filling seven of the posts on the board. It makes GM the only automaker where women comprise a majority of the board.

Tatum, who is of Asian and African-American heritage, is the National Basketball Association’s deputy commissioner and chief operating officer. Diversity within the company has been a priority for Chairman and CEO Mary Barra since her appointment in 2013.

Diversity is a strength

GM quickly pointed out that the diversity of the company’s newly expanded board isn’t just limited to gender or ethnic background.

Diversity has been a theme during Mary Barra’s tenure as GM’s Chairman and CEO.

The company’s 12 independent directors have senior leadership and board experience in information technology, digital commerce, retail, higher education, investment management, international affairs, defense, transportation, cybersecurity, and pharmaceuticals, among others.

“Our diverse Board of Directors is a competitive advantage for GM as we work to deliver a better, safer and more sustainable world,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “Mark and Meg will bring unique experiences to the Board, especially in technology, brand building and customer experience that will help us drive value for shareholders and other GM stakeholders now and into the future.”

Diversity is a focus in the company’s executive ranks as well. Barra’s overseen a significant shift of women into higher level roles at the company during her tenure. Some of those include Dhivya Suryadevara as Chief Financial Officer, the first-ever woman to hold the job, and Alicia Bolder Davis as the Head of Global Manufacturing.

Others include Ann Cathcart Chaplin, corporate secretary and deputy general counsel; Margaret Curry, vice president, Tax and chief tax officer; Julia Steyn, head of urban mobility and Maven; Kimberly Brycz as senior vice president, Global Human Resources; and Pamela Fletcher, vice president, Global Electric Vehicle Programs. Both Boler Davis and Suryadevara left the company for other opportunities in the last 18 months.

Results are showing

Mark Tatum, deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of the National Basketball Association, will join the General Motors Board of Directors.

The push to diversify, at least by gender, is beginning to get noticed. GM was the top ranked company in the U.S. on the Gender Equality Global Report & Ranking for 2021. It was No. 5 globally, with a score of 71%, up from No. 11 and a score of 68% last year. GM was the only automaker in the Top 100.

Researchers noted GM achieved gender balance at the board level (at the time the report was issued, there were six women on GM’s board). Additionally, women represent 20% of the executive team, 32.2% of senior management and 21.8% of the workforce.

“They offer a living wage and flexible work arrangements to their employees. General Motors is the only company in the U.S. and globally that publishes a mean, unadjusted gender pay gap of less than 3% in all pay bands, and they have a strategy to close the gender pay gap. General Motors also publishes all eight of Equileap’s recommended policies that promote gender equality,” the report noted.

It is compiled by Equileap, a data research firm, which researched 3,702 companies based on 19 gender equality criteria, including gender balance from the board to the workforce, as well as the pay gap and policies relating to parental leave and sexual harassment. The average score for the Top 100 companies globally was 64 percent, an increase of 2 percentage points from last year.

Other automakers making moves

Alexandra Ford English has been nominated for the Ford Motor Co. board of directors.

GM’s top domestic rival, Ford Motor Co., currently has three women on its board of directors and nominated a fourth, Alexandra Ford English, daughter of current Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr., who is virtually assured of election to the board later this year.

Ford English, 33, recently accepted another board position that elevated her profile. She took on the role as Ford Motor Co.’s representative to the Rivian board of directors. Ford Motor owns an equity stake in the EV maker. She’s held roles in corporate strategy at companies like Tory Burch and Gap Inc. as well as the automaker, which she joined in 2017.

The company’s global workforce is 28% female and 20% of its leadership comprises women. Some of it is top officers include Joy Falotico, president, The Lincoln Motor Co.; Lisa Drake, chief operating officer, North America; Suzy Deering, chief marketing officer; Dianne Craig, president, International Markets Group; Elena Ford, chief customer experience officer; Cathy O’Callaghan, vice president, Controller; and Kiersten Robinson, chief people and employee experiences officer.

Falotico, Drake and Deering have all moved into their roles in the last 12 months with the first two moving from other jobs within the company. Deering arrived at the automaker in January from eBay, where she was global chief marketing officer. She actually took over for Falotico, who now focuses solely on running Lincoln.

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GM Confirms Cuts at Cruise Automation

May 15, 2020 admin

GM CEO Mary Barra said the company would be eliminating some jobs at its Cruise Automation subsidiary.

Cruise Automation is cutting some employees, but the company remains tightly focused on its objective of developing self-driving vehicles, GM Chairman Mary Barra said during a web conference.

Barra confirmed earlier reports from California that Cruise would be eliminating some jobs. “It was a very prudent action,” Barra said. The cuts will not involve any technical staff dedicated to the company’s mission of developing self-driving vehicles, she said.

“They’ve grown very quickly,” she said. “The employees were working in non-technical areas.”

(Cruise gets okay to carry passengers in California.)

GM’s San Francisco-based Cruise subsidiary will lay off about 160 people.

Cruise, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors, employs about 2,000 workers, largely in the San Francisco Bay Area and about 160 or about 8% of the company work force will be laid off. Those affected will receive transitionary assistance and health care benefits for the remainder of the year, according to an email from Cruise CEO Dan Ammann.

Barra said the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the importance of autonomous vehicle research. “It’s a huge opportunity to show people the kind of vehicle they are going to want in the future,” she said.

The autonomous vehicles can be used to provide clean, safe transportation complete with private spaces that are inherently safer than a vehicle with a human driver. They also can be used to deliver packages, she said.

(GM retains faith in its electric future during pandemic.)

“We are full speed ahead,” she said during the event, which was sponsored by Bank of America, and touched on several topics relevant to GM right now.

GM has burned between $7 billion and $9 billion during the shutdown.

Dhivya Suryadevara, GM executive vice president and chief financial officer, said the shutdown of the company’s operations due to the coronavirus pandemic has led to a substantial “cash burn” of between $7 billion and $9 billion for the second quarter and a loss of as much as $2 billion.

Nevertheless, GM’s strong balance sheet has enabled it to maintain an investment grade credit rating. The investment grade credit rating is very important to GM, Suryadevara said.

(General Motors bucks the trend and turns a small Q1 profit.)

GM recently sold $4 billion unsecured bonds and add to its $2 billion to its revolving line of bank credit to shore up its balance sheet and cash reserves, she said.