Suppliers are to blame for GM’s EV production delays.Chevrolet Volt lives on

GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra speaks to investors at the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan on October 6, 2021.

Photo by Steve Fecht, General Motors

Detroit — general motors Chief Executive Mary Barra on Tuesday blamed automation suppliers for the slow rollout of GM’s new electric vehicles after Wall Street criticized the move amid bold predictions that the company would catch up to industry leaders. Tesla.

GM’s stock fell about 4% in Tuesday morning trading, despite better quarterly earnings than last year. On the conference call, analysts questioned the company’s pricing strategy, EV profitability guidance and its ability to meet its previously announced vehicle targets.

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“There have been unexpected delays in our plans as our automation equipment suppliers are struggling with delivery issues that constrain our module assembly capacity,” Barra said at the company’s press conference. 2nd Quarter Financial Results Briefing Tuesday.

GM met its internal goal of producing 50,000 EVs for North America by the first half of this year, but was well behind most expectations. Much of that production was for existing models of the Chevrolet Volt, rather than new EVs utilizing the automaker’s Ultium batteries and technology.

Barra, a former plant manager and automotive engineer, said he was “disappointed” by the unnamed supplier and said he had been personally involved in solving problems and updating automated lines. He said GM is “surprised” that its suppliers haven’t made much progress.

Barra said the company expects production to improve significantly by the end of this year, by which time constraints will be lifted “mainly”, if not sooner.

“We’ve already seen a lot of improvement in the last four to six weeks, and we plan to continue on that path,” Barra said.

Barra said despite issues with the battery module that houses the vehicle’s battery cells, the company is maintaining plans to produce 100,000 vehicles in North America in the second half of this year, with a cumulative total of 400,000 vehicles expected by mid-2024.

“We are not going to walk away from the goals we have set,” Barra said.

restore the bolt

GM says upcoming EVs will eventually include a next-generation version of the Chevrolet Volt EV.

in April, GM announces end of production of mainstream Volt EV by the end of this year Transfer the production of production plants to electric trucks.

Chevrolet Volt EUV on display at the New York Auto Show on April 13, 2022.

Scott Mullin | CNBC

Barra said there are plans to manufacture the next-generation Bolt in response to growing consumer demand for cars. big price cut Last year, the vehicle was the cheapest EV in the US

Barra said GM will update its vehicles with new battery and software program technology known as Ultium and Ultifi, respectively.

GM refrained from announcing details such as the release date, price and production location of the next-generation Bolt.

https://ift.tt/tU9nHeE Suppliers are to blame for GM’s EV production delays.Chevrolet Volt lives on

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