Speaker 1: Please to say. Joining us in the Bloomberg Savantage studio
Speaker 1: alongside me is GMCO Mary Barra. On the later results
Speaker 1: with GM stock at the moment positive by about seven percent.
Speaker 1: Mary Barr, the General Motors Chair and CEO, joined us. Now, Mary,
Speaker 1: wonderful to catch up with you. A better story to
Speaker 1: tell this morning. Let's start with that story. What's underpending
Speaker 1: these higher profits for twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: Well, if you look at the strong twenty twenty three results,
Speaker 2: we had very strong internal combustion engine sales and we
Speaker 2: had strong EV sales from our Bolt EV and EUV.
Speaker 2: But as we go into twenty four, we're going to
Speaker 2: build on that strength and we think twenty four can
Speaker 2: be another strong year because we're going to be building
Speaker 2: many more ultim based evs. We had a constraint with modules.
Speaker 2: We have addressed that. We're on track for the first
Speaker 2: month and by the middle of the year that should
Speaker 2: be well behind us. So that's going to allow us
Speaker 2: to build many more of the existing vehicles like the
Speaker 2: Cadillac Lyric and the GMC Hummer EV, the Silverado EV
Speaker 2: work truck, etc. And then this year we're also going
Speaker 2: to be launching this Chevy Equinox EV along with a
Speaker 2: CRA EV. So we have many new evs coming out,
Speaker 2: and so it's going to be a strong year for
Speaker 2: us from an EV perspective as well, and we've indicated
Speaker 2: that in the second half of the year we expect
Speaker 2: our EV portfolio to be variable profit break even.
Speaker 1: Mary, Let's talk about the EV market, because you are
Speaker 1: optimistic and constructive at the same time, there's been some
Speaker 1: setbacks over the last few months of thinking of hurts,
Speaker 1: they need to dune twenty thousand evs. More recently, a
Speaker 1: competitive forward had to cut the workforce making the electric
Speaker 1: F one fifties. What do you think is behind the
Speaker 1: slowdown and EV growth more broadly over the last few
Speaker 1: months the last few.
Speaker 2: Quarters, Well, there definitely is a slowdown of EV adoption,
Speaker 2: although I think this transformation of this magnitude was never
Speaker 2: going to be completely linear. I think one of the
Speaker 2: important things is continuing to build out the charging infrastructure,
Speaker 2: but it's also about having purpose built, ground up evs
Speaker 2: that have all the performance requirements. Because as we continue
Speaker 2: to grow in the EV market, and you know, outside
Speaker 2: analysts expect that this next year, even the lowest is
Speaker 2: that it'll be an ev penetration of ten percent versus
Speaker 2: this year of seven percent. So although it's slowing, if
Speaker 2: we were to grow from seven to ten percent, that
Speaker 2: would still be significant and a record year for evs,
Speaker 2: and to participate in that this year, we're well positioned
Speaker 2: with a portfolio of purpose built evs.
Speaker 1: Mary, you and I have always talked about where the
Speaker 1: market is and where it's going. There was a belief
Speaker 1: for a while that we could move from the internal
Speaker 1: combustion engine to evs, and now it feels like there's
Speaker 1: an interim step towards hybridge. You've been reluctant in the
Speaker 1: past on the ONIXT core you went to tain that idea.
Speaker 1: What's changed your mind?
Speaker 2: Well, you know again, as we're going through this transformation,
Speaker 2: a lot has changed. I think, you know, a few
Speaker 2: years back when we made that statement, I think we've
Speaker 2: thought we'd be farther along on the charging infrastructure again
Speaker 2: across the entire country. But I also think the regulatory
Speaker 2: environment has changed to be even more stringent, and so
Speaker 2: as we get there within now hybrids are going to
Speaker 2: play a role. We already have the technology, it's been
Speaker 2: deployed in other regions, so we'll apply it in North
Speaker 2: America at a timeframe that we think is important primarily
Speaker 2: from a regulatory environment as we move forward.
Speaker 1: Can we talk about that time frame just a little bit.
Speaker 1: How quickly can you get those cars to market? Given
Speaker 1: as you've just said, you have that technology ready to go.
Speaker 2: Well, we're going to be launching those vehicles, the hybrids,
Speaker 2: in key segments of our portfolio, but we haven't put
Speaker 2: specific plans out. We'll be filling that in more later
Speaker 2: as we move on, because twenty four is really a
Speaker 2: year to focus on our EV production. Again, we've seen
Speaker 2: since last September the lyric. As we've been able to
Speaker 2: build more vehicles, demand keeps growing. We've even had a
Speaker 2: strong January that's matching we believe will match December even
Speaker 2: with all the weather challenges we've seen throughout the country.
Speaker 2: We have one hundred thousand either orders or reservations for
Speaker 2: our EV trucks that we're going to fulfill between twenty
Speaker 2: four and twenty five. So again, when you think about
Speaker 2: new purpose built EV's, I think we're in a different
Speaker 2: position than some if for some reason we don't see
Speaker 2: that EV demand materialize. We've got the flexibility with two
Speaker 2: plants that can build both ice in EV.
Speaker 1: That just raises the question again, Mary, how quickly you
Speaker 1: can deploy that? Is that something you can do in
Speaker 1: a quarter, something that has to take place over the
Speaker 1: space of a year. How long does that take?
Speaker 2: Again, we're not giving specific details and when the hybrid
Speaker 2: vehicles will come out. That will follow later, but it
Speaker 2: will be timed, not because we have such strong evs
Speaker 2: right now, it will be timed later when we see
Speaker 2: hybrid's plain an important role in meeting the regulatory environment.
Speaker 1: You'll have to forgive me for sounding slightly combative, but
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to understand myself. So Mary, help me
Speaker 1: understand just a little bit more. If EV's really strong,
Speaker 1: why are we entertaining hybrids? If that's the aultimate goal
Speaker 1: and it's going to be a distraction where entertain hybrids?
Speaker 2: Well, as I've said, we've seen EV demand slowly. We
Speaker 2: think there's still an opportunity for general motors. But we
Speaker 2: think if you think about it, we're seven percent this year,
Speaker 2: getting all the way to one hundred percent. There's going
Speaker 2: to be a lot of adoption and there's some customers
Speaker 2: with their use cases are more comfortable with a vehicle
Speaker 2: that has two propulsion systems, the electric and internal combustion engine,
Speaker 2: and so we're responding to that. A lot is what
Speaker 2: is going to guide. This is related to getting a
Speaker 2: robust charging infrastructure. So we're keeping our options open and
Speaker 2: we're going to look to what the market wants. We've
Speaker 2: already seen hybrid demand go up and down over the
Speaker 2: last few years, so you know, I don't think it's
Speaker 2: going to be you know, a long term stable growth either.
Speaker 1: Got it. You've always been pragmatic about the situation. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about the situation with competition as well. They test
Speaker 1: the CEO Ela Musk said just last week, the Chinese
Speaker 1: order makers will demolish that global competition without tariffs. We
Speaker 1: noted in the last few months that GM sold few
Speaker 1: vehicles last year in China that in the US for
Speaker 1: the first time I think since two thousand and nine. Mary,
Speaker 1: How difficult is it to compete in China at the moment, Well.
Speaker 2: The China market is under tremendous change. There's over one
Speaker 2: hundred domestic EV companies that have started up. I think
Speaker 2: important to note many of them are not profitable. We
Speaker 2: are changing our business, uh and we need to get
Speaker 2: more evs out that can compete. But I think when
Speaker 2: you look at the you know, the intense price competition
Speaker 2: that you're seeing in China right now, that's not sustainable
Speaker 2: for any company. And so we're positioning for where GM
Speaker 2: has to be to compete in a very different market
Speaker 2: with many more DOMESTICI EV competitors. But we still think
Speaker 2: there's a place and a growth opportunity there as we
Speaker 2: move forward, but it'll be different than it was. You know,
Speaker 2: three four or five years ago, you've.
Speaker 1: Said you're evaluating your business there. Could you have this
Speaker 1: understand a little bit more? We ultimately that statement, Mads,
Speaker 1: What does that mean to evaluate your business on the
Speaker 1: ground in China?
Speaker 2: Well, we have to evaluate with how much the market
Speaker 2: is changing and with the different competition competition, we have
Speaker 2: to understand where can GM play and win and that's
Speaker 2: where we'll deploy our capital. We have a very strong
Speaker 2: partner with SAIC and so we're going to work with
Speaker 2: them together. We have been to make sure we have
Speaker 2: a strong business going forward. That's getting Ultium evs launched
Speaker 2: there and we're considering other products as well. So more
Speaker 2: to come on the China story, but we're going to
Speaker 2: make sure we set up the business with this very
Speaker 2: dynamic market to succeed.
Speaker 1: Mary, let's talk about competition domestically at home as well.
Speaker 1: That statement for Elon muss that ultimately Chinese automakers will
Speaker 1: demolish their global competition without tarif. Do you have a
Speaker 1: position on that. Do you feel the same way? Is
Speaker 1: that something that the automakers in America need to be
Speaker 1: able to compete successfully? We need to put the barriers up.
Speaker 2: Well, I think across the board. You know, when you
Speaker 2: look at how do you win in this business, it's
Speaker 2: by having beautifully designed products that meet customers need, that
Speaker 2: have the right functionality, right software, right technology, add a
Speaker 2: very competitive price point. And that's why GM has been
Speaker 2: so focused on taking cost out and being more effective
Speaker 2: with our capital. And so that's what you need to
Speaker 2: do to win. I would say that you do need
Speaker 2: a level playing field, and I believe with our portfolio
Speaker 2: in many of the markets we compete around the globe,
Speaker 2: if there's truly a level playing field, we have a
Speaker 2: strong portfolio and we're going to do well.
Speaker 1: The stock is doing well this morning, hire by about
Speaker 1: six or seven percent. I wanted to finish up here.
Speaker 1: You've had some run ins with activists shareholders during your tenure.
Speaker 1: You've got plenty of experience with this back in twenty fifteen,
Speaker 1: I think twenty seventeen again with David Idhorn. Are you
Speaker 1: all concerned about in Vesta's losing patients with some of
Speaker 1: these bets on technology with Cruise, on the EV transition
Speaker 1: as well and ultimately facing that all together again or
Speaker 1: do you think the capital re term program announced only
Speaker 1: a few months ago, together with a share pace performance
Speaker 1: and a better outlook, we'll keep those people away.
Speaker 2: Well. Again, we've got to run the business well. Last
Speaker 2: year we had some disappointments in EV and I think
Speaker 2: that created some cause for concern as well as some
Speaker 2: of the challenges at Cruise. We're addressing both of them.
Speaker 2: I think this is going to be a breakout year
Speaker 2: for ultium based evs and we're going to demonstrate that
Speaker 2: this year. We have taken the steps necessary and the
Speaker 2: underlying technology of our autonomous technology with Cruse is strong,
Speaker 2: and so we're revising the plan that will work very
Speaker 2: closely with local, state, and federal regulators as well as
Speaker 2: first responders. So I think there's a very strong growth
Speaker 2: opportunity there and just let me say from an autonomous perspective.
Speaker 2: You know the benefits of autonomous are safety when you
Speaker 2: look at and saving lives when you look at today.
Speaker 2: I think the latest some of the latest statistics show
Speaker 2: that ninety percent of fatalities on US roads are caused
Speaker 2: by human error. So this technology holds great promise for
Speaker 2: safer travel. So we're going to continue to invest in that,
Speaker 2: but we're going to be measured and make sure what
Speaker 2: we deploy we're going to generate returns on. So it's
Speaker 2: ours to execute.
Speaker 1: Mary. I know you're non stop this morning and you've
Speaker 1: got a run. We appreciate your time here at Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: Thanks for being with us. Mary Power there, the General
Speaker 1: Motors chair and CEO,