GM And Ford Are Having EV Difficulties

With the EV king, Tesla Inc TSLA scheduled to report its quarterly performance after market close, General Motors GM is facing battery supply challenges and Ford Motor F has dramatically cut prices for its F-150 Lighting pickup in response to weakened demand. Upon Ford’s news on Monday, Ford shares dropped 5.9%, GM followed with 3.1 % and Rivian RIVN with a 3.3% drop, while Tesla shares rose 3.2% as its Cybertruck went into production.

Despite Challenges, GM Is Determined To Ramp Up Its EV Output

Despite battery supply chain disruptions, Rory Harvey, GM’s president of North America anticipated that the automaker will build a significantly higher number of EVs in the remaining half of the year, following a disappointing second quarter in EV sales. The sales slowdown came as GM focused on developing new EV models on its flexible Ultium platform that is designed to optimize production, once supply chain issues are resolved. The first EV that got off the platform, the GMC Hummer EV, experienced low sales in the first two quarters of the year with an 83% decline compared to 2022’s figures. 

EV troubles are mounting up as on July 18th, GM’s CAMI Assembly electric vehicle plant in Ingersoll, Ontario has reportedly closed for the month unexpectedly due to a battery shortage, according to The London Free Press. Currently, GM only produces Ultium batteries at the Ultium Cells plant in Lordstown, Ohio with plans to build a second plant in Tennessee in 2024 and a third in Michigan in 2025. 

GM expects to leave behind these challenges soon as it plans to launch three new high-volume Ultium EVs from Chevrolet by the end of the year, namely the Silverado EV, Equinox EV, and Blazer EV. GM’s Ramos Arizpe plant in Mexico stated that first Chevy Blazer EV is on its way to the US.

While GM executives are confident in increasing EV production this year, the automaker’s history of unfulfilled promises leaves plenty of space for concern. However, GM is actively expanding its battery capacity, which according to CEO Mary Barra is the main bottleneck, but it will take time to reach optimal production levels.

Ford Announces Significant Price Cuts

On Monday, Ford intensified the EV price war in the U.S. with price cuts for its flagship electric pickup, the electric version of America’s most beloved pickup, F-150.Ford announced that seven F-150 Lightning models will be discounted by 6 to 17%. Back when Tesla began the price war by slashing its vehicle prices by $13,000 at the beginning of the year, Ford responded by cutting prices for its electric SUV, the Mustang Mach-E, but then Tesla discounted its Model S and Model X vehicles in March. 

Also on Monday, Ford cited that the discounted pricing is the result of its increased plant capacity at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan, a lower cost of raw materials and batteries with benefits of scaled production. The Rouge plant is currently closed for final plant upgrades as the Blue Oval plans to triple its annual F-150 Lightning production rate to 150,000 as of this autumn. Tesla’s price war which resulted in Ford’s and GM’s discounting of prices resulted in higher sales for all three carmakers. Tesla led with a 466,000 EVs in its April to June quarter, with Ford selling almost 15,000 EVs in the April to June quarter and GM doubling its EV sales that exceeded 15,000. Moreover, F-150 Lightning sales skyrocketed 119% compared to 2022’s comparable quarter and therefore, the latest move is likely to intended to keep up the strong momentum.

China Remains Way Ahead Of The U.S. When It Comes To EVs

Though local EV brands are dominating the world’s greatest EV market, General Motors and Volkswagen VWAGY are fighting for their piece of the pie in China with Tesla certainly making it even harder with its Shanghai factory. But even Tesla is not the EV king in China as the industry leader is BYD — a Shenzhen-based Warren Buffet-back company whose name stands for “Build Your Dreams,” is by all means the world’s biggest EV seller, including hybrids. On the back of an antitrust law, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, a pledge made this month by Tesla and 15 other automakers to avoid abnormal pricing was retracted. So even Tesla does not have a clear path ahead in China. China is also a clear leader in EV batteries as Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley emphasized during the Morgan Stanley’s sustainable finance summit in May, with the automaker’s biggest rival not being GM or Toyota Motor TM but Chinese EV makers such as BYD, with the country itself being a threat with its dominance in raw materials supply such as lithium and the supply chain.

DISCLAIMER: This content is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as investing advice.