GM shares were trading down nearly two per cent at midday, even though CFO Paul Jacobson said demand for GM’s trucks and SUVs remains strong in the United States.

GM has been able to raise prices in the U.S. over the past two years as supply chain bottlenecks kept production in check. Going forward, Jacobson said the opportunity to boost prices much further “isn’t there. We have to be more urgent around cost-cutting.”

GM will cut production to keep inventories in check, Jacobson said. The automaker earlier this year shut down a pickup truck assembly factory in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for two weeks.

GM had set a goal of cutting $2 billion from operating costs by the end of 2024, with 30 to 50 per cent of the total being achieved this year (all figures US$). The response to a buyout program announced last month means GM will be at the higher end of that 2023 goal, Jacobson said during a presentation at a Bank of America conference.

GM will take a $1 billion charge in the first quarter, he said. The company had previously projected $1.5 billion in charges related to staff reductions.

Jacobson said GM is now allocating 75 per cent of its annual capital spending toward electric vehicle projects, which in the short term will be less profitable than the automaker’s combustion vehicles.

GM is in a good position to benefit from U.S. electric vehicle subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act because of its investments in North American battery, raw materials and EV assembly, Jacobson said.

GM has three battery factories in North America, and will announce the location of a fourth domestic battery plant soon, he said.

Jacobson added that the company was going to have to “prioritize down” on growth businesses to focus on preserving cash. Some analysts have questioned GM’s continued investments in its Cruise robo-taxi business. Jacobson said Cruise is expanding and “executing really well.”

— Reporting for Reuters by Nathan Gomes in Bangalore and Joseph White in Detroit.

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The major Detroit pickup truck brands are sitting on growing inventories of unsold vehicles, according to Cox Automotive data provided to Reuters.

As supply-chain bottlenecks ease, the resolve among Detroit’s automakers to keep inventories tighter than before the pandemic will be tested. Automakers could have to choose between reducing output to avoid price cuts, or offering richer discounts to pump up sales volumes, dealers said.

GM dealers have over 100 days’ supply of Chevy Silverado pickups in stock, reflecting more vehicles on the ground and a seasonally slow pace of sales, according to Cox. Inventory levels are over 100 days’ supply for rival Stellantis’ Ram half-ton and heavy-duty pickups. Ford has 92 days’ worth of F-150s in stock, according to Cox data.

A GM spokesman said Cox’s numbers do not accurately reflect GM’s inventory situation. GM does not disclose detailed inventory figures. However, he said GM is acting to support its pricing strategy, which relies on keeping inventories leaner than in the past.

Stellantis said in a statement it had no downtime planned at any of its North American plants, but constantly reviewed its inventory levels and would make production adjustments as needed.

Industry consultants J.D. Power and LMC Automotive forecast on Friday that U.S. car and light truck sales for February would reach a 14.6 million-vehicle annualized pace. That is up from a year ago, but still well below pre-pandemic levels.

February sales growth was led by a 54 per cent increase in sales to fleet customers, Power and LMC said.

Overall inventories of unsold vehicles are still low, but “are still not sufficient to fulfill demand each month,” Thomas King, president of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power, said in a statement.

GM said its decision to idle the Fort Wayne, Indiana assembly plant that builds Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks for two weeks starting March 27 was done to maintain “optimal inventory levels with our dealerships.”

Who blinks first?

GM, Ford and Stellantis dominate the U.S. large pickup market, and for the past two years have been raising prices on their trucks to record levels as supply-chain snags limited production.

Dealers contacted by Reuters said that now, some customers are waiting for better deals, or are postponing purchases because the combination of high prices and higher interest rates put vehicles out of reach. The automakers face a choice between cutting prices using bigger rebates or subsidized loans, or keeping inventories tight.

“What they’re doing is playing what I call the blink game — whoever blinks first. Especially for trucks,” said Ohio dealer Rhett Ricart, whose Ricart Automotive Group sells Ford and GM trucks at different stores.

Brad Sowers, president of Jim Butler Auto Group in Missouri, said high prices are hitting demand. However, he wrote in an email, “manufacturers do not want to flood the market and be forced to quadruple incentive spending to drive demand that will reduce their margins.”

Some discounts are showing up in the large pickup segment. Ram is offering 2.9 per cent financing for 72-month loans on certain Ram 1500 trucks.

Power and LMC said fewer vehicles were sold in February above their manufacturer suggested prices, and that the average discount rose 4.7 per cent to US$1,335 a vehicle. That is still well below pre-pandemic levels, Power-LMC said.

— Reporting for Reuters by Joseph White and Ben Klayman in Detroit; additional reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bangalore.

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The largest U.S. automaker said the recall covers various Cadillac CT4 and CT5; Buick Envision; Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles from the 2020 through 2023 model years.

The recall covers 740,000 U.S. vehicles and 85,000 in Canada.

GM said the body control module software will be updated by a dealer, or through an over-the-air update to address the issue.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the vehicles do not comply with a U.S. federal vehicle safety standard and glare could reduce visibility and increase the risk of a crash.

The recall is an expansion of a recall GM announced in November for the sale issue. GM said it is not aware of any injuries or accidents related to the recall.

The recall was prompted after a GM engineer submitted a report about the issue in October prompting a company investigation.

— David Shepardson reports on the U.S. transport sector for Reuters from Washington, D.C.

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Barra made her comments during the automaker’s annual shareholder meeting.

GM is pursuing a two-track strategy: Investing heavily in electric vehicles for North America, China and other markets, and funding those investments by trying to maximize profits from its North American combustion pickup truck and large SUV lineups.

Barra said GM is planning higher-priced versions of its Silverado large pickup and its large SUV models.

GM and its Detroit rivals Ford and Stellantis rely heavily on sales of large pickup trucks and SUVs for global profits. High U.S. gasoline prices in the past have undermined consumer demand for relatively inefficient models.

Nominal pump prices hit an average of above US$5 a gallon for the first time ever last week, the federal government said Friday.

GM is ramping up production of EVs. Barra said the Cadillac Lyriq electric sport utility is sold out through 2023.

In response to shareholder questions, Barra said the “clear priority” for using cash generated by its operations is to “accelerate our EV plans.” She did not rule out share buybacks or other approaches to returning cash to shareholders.

GM still expects to increase production this year by 25-30 per cent, despite continuing pressure on semiconductor supplies globally. Barra said GM is working to redesign vehicles to reduce the number of processors required by 95 per cent.

Barra serves as GM’s board chair and CEO. GM shareholders overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to separate those roles.

— Joe White is a Reuters global automotive sector correspondent in Detroit.

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GM CEO Mary Barra on Wednesday told the annual CES technology conference via video that the electric Silverado will launch in two stages in 2023, starting in the second quarter with a $39,900 WT work truck that will be delivered to a limited group of commercial fleets (all figures US$).

In the fall of 2023, GM plans to start delivering a consumer, outdoor adventure-oriented model that will start at $105,000 — more than an electric Mercedes EQS sedan.

Retail customers will see less expensive versions of the electric Silverado roll out in 2024 and beyond, Chevrolet officials said in briefings ahead of Barra’s CES speech. Barra was scheduled to make her speech online after GM pulled out of in-person attendance at CES due to the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The electric Silverado’s debut escalates a battle for sales and customer loyalty in a segment that includes some of the most profitable vehicles the Detroit automakers sell. Startup Rivian Automotive’s electric R1T pickup, first shown in 2018, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s polarizing vision for an all-electric pickup called the Cybertruck, spurred the Detroit Three to accelerate development of electric pickups.

The Cybertruck’s launch date remains uncertain. For now, the first lap of the electric pickup race is a contest among Ford, GM and Rivian, which began shipping the first of its $67,500 and up R1T models late last year.

The electric Silverado, built on the same architecture as the GMC Hummer EV, will enter the race for both fleet and consumer buyers a year or more behind the electric Ford F-150 Lightning. That gap reflects contrasting strategic choices by the long-time rivals.

Barra and GM president Mark Reuss are betting GM will win in the long run by first developing dedicated electric vehicle architectures and a vertically-integrated battery and motor production chain, then launching electric vehicle models in high volume during the middle and latter part of this decade.

By then, GM executives expect the costs of the company’s proprietary Ultium battery technology will be lower than rivals, conferring a decisive advantage.

Ford took a different path. The F-150 Lightning due for delivery starting this spring is a modified version of the current, gasoline F-150 that is part of the best-selling vehicle line in the United States.

Ford’s approach was faster, and Ford CEO Jim Farley last month said the company had to cap at 200,000 the number of reservations it will take from consumers for the truck.

Farley is pushing aggressively to build as many Lightnings as possible before GM’s Silverado and other rivals hit the market. On Tuesday, Ford said it planned to double capacity for building Lightnings at its Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan. to 150,000 vehicles a year. Ford last September said it was increasing Lightning capacity to 80,000 from 40,000 vehicles.

Ford also is starting work with battery partner, SK Innovation, on an $11.4 billion network of vehicle assembly and battery-making plants in Tennessee and Kentucky.

Ford and GM both are targeting commercial fleet customers with electric pickups priced just below $40,000.

GM said the WT, or work truck, version of the Silverado EV will have a 400-mile driving range and will first go to a select group of fleet customers under deals already negotiated. GM expects to deliver “tens of thousands” of electric work trucks, said Steve Carlisle, head of GM’s North American operations.

Ford and GM are taking different paths to winning retail customers. The F-150 Lightning for retail customers has a 300-mile range, a 400-litre capacity front trunk that can function as a drink cooler and an option that enables the truck to power a house during a blackout. It can carry 1,800 pounds of stuff. The consumer Lightning had a starting price of $52,974, excluding tax breaks, before Ford capped orders.

The electric Silverado RST for retail buyers has a 400-mile range, a “mid-gate” in the back of the cab that can accommodate kayaks and surfboards, but carries less cargo and will not have backup generator capability when it launches.

Carlisle said the generator function is “very much on the radar.” A Chevrolet spokeswoman said bi-directional charging to power a home will be available within the first year of production.

GM executives said they will emphasize the Silverado’s superior range in advertising that will start this year.

GM’s decision to charge European luxury car prices for the first Silverado RSTs mirrors the strategy for the first Hummer EVs, which started at over $110,000 and are now available for starting prices of $99,995 — more than double the average transaction price for a GM vehicle.

— Joe White is a Reuters automotive industry correspondent in Detroit.

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Reuss told an investor conference GM is working with seven chip suppliers on three new families of microcontrollers that will reduce the number of unique chips by 95 per cent on future vehicles.

The supplier partners include Qualcomm, STM, TSMC, Renesas, NXP, Infineon and ON Semi, he said.

Most of GM’s future investment in the new microcontroller families “will flow to the U.S. and Canada,” Reuss said.

Vehicle manufacturers around the world have been coping much of the year with shortages of semiconductor chips that control everything from heated seats to infotainment systems.

Those shortages in some cases have caused GM and other automakers to build, then park unfinished vehicles until missing chips finally arrive and can be installed. In other cases, vehicles are being delivered to customers without some of the usual features.

“We see our semiconductor requirements more than doubling over the new few years,” with the arrival of new electric vehicles and complex driver assistance systems such as UltraCruise, Reuss said.

The new microcontrollers will consolidate many of the functions now handled by individual chips, which not only will reduce cost and complexity, but “will drive quality and predictability,” he said.

The new microcontrollers will be built in high volume — as much as 10 million units a year, Reuss said.

A GM spokesperson told Reuters that the company is “trying to develop an ecosystem that is much more resilient, more scalable and always there to meet our needs.”

Earlier Thursday, Ford Motor Co. and chip manufacturer GlobalFoundries Inc. said they plan to work together to boost supplies for the automaker’s vehicles and the broader U.S. auto industry.

— Reporting for Reuters by Paul Lienert in Detroit.

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“As we look to the fourth quarter, a steady flow of vehicles held at plants will continue to be released to dealers,” GM said, adding that it was expecting a more “stable operating environment.”

The company said all of its full-size pickup, full-size sports utility vehicle and mid-size pickup truck plants in North America were operating as of this week.

Chip shortages and supply chain disruptions have forced automakers worldwide to cut production and in some cases, to produce vehicles without chips and park them at their facilities.

The problems have, however, allowed then to sell vehicles at higher prices due to record purchases from consumers, who are flush with cash amid low interest rates and rising wages.

“We expect to continue selling every vehicle we can produce with rapid turnover,” GM chief economist Elaine Buckberg said.

The Detroit automaker’s third-quarter sales fell to 446,997 vehicles, down by 218,195 vehicles from a year earlier.

In Canada alone, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers delivered 48,657 vehicles in the third quarter, down 23 per cent from a year ago, the company said in a separate release Friday.

Sandor Piszar, GM Canada’s vice-president for sales, service and marketing, said those results “reflect how the shortage of semiconductors continues to impact vehicle production and dealer inventory.”

However, he said in Friday’s release, increased sales of utility vehicles such as the GMC Yukon, Chevy Tahoe and Cadillac Escalade during Q3 “illustrate how GM is prioritizing production of our most in-demand models.”

Pickup production, meanwhile, is due to begin later this year at GM Canada’s Oshawa assembly plant, “marking one of the fastest plant launches in GM’s history,” the company said.

— Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bangalore. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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Catching up with rival trucks from Stellantis NV and Ford Motor Co., most 2022 Silverado models will get larger dashboard screens and new connectivity technology featuring built-in Google voice commands and software.

Chevrolet also will add a 420-horsepower Silverado ZR2 designed for rugged off-road adventures — or to give the appearance that the owner would have them. The Silverado ZR2 will chase Ford’s F-series Raptor and the Ram TRX from Stellantis, which are attention-getting performance models for those brands.

The current Silverado, launched in early 2019, has been outflanked in sales by rival Stellantis NV’s Ram pickup. The Ram in 2018 got a makeover with a more refined interior and a 12-inch dashboard screen that was closer in style to a Tesla Model S sedan than a conventional pickup truck.

The Fiat Chrysler unit of what is now Stellantis also expanded production capacity for Ram pickups in North America, gunning to displace the Chevy Silverado as the No. 2 brand in the North American pickup segment.

That strategy — led by Mike Manley, now head of Stellantis North America — worked. Through the first half of 2021, Ram’s pickups have outsold the Silverado and are now in second place behind Ford’s F-series trucks, the best-selling model line in the United States for more than 40 years, according to sales data compiled by Automotive News.

Smartphone-like experience

Steve Carlisle, head of GM’s North American operations, told Reuters GM has learned from the challenge from Ram. “You have to be very agile and react,” he said. “And maybe ask different types of questions.”

Going forward, Carlisle said GM sees the market moving from “bigger is better” when it comes to dashboard displays to more emphasis on improving the user experience.

Carlisle said his goal for the revamped Silverado is to knock Ford out of the top spot in the segment.

“We will not rest until that happens,” he said, though he added, “we are going to do the right thing from a brand point of view.”

Ram and Ford have their own upgrades coming for 2022. Ram trucks will get enhanced infotainment systems. Ford is touting a hybrid system available on the F-150 pickup that can power a house, and promoting its all-electric F-150 Lightning coming next spring.

The new Silverados will get other new technology. The redesigned trucks will be the largest-scale application of GM’s partnership with Alphabet Inc.’s Google to create a more smartphone-like experience in cars. And top-of-the-line Silverados will offer GM’s Super Cruise system as an option to enable hands-free driving on more than 200,000 miles (321,869 km) of roads in Canada and the U.S.

The Silverado ZR2 responds to a more traditional form of automotive competition. Powerful pickup trucks equipped with tall, beefy suspensions and other modifications to handle racing over rough desert or leaping sand dunes have become the 21st century answer to Detroit’s 1960s muscle cars. Ford and Ram had models designed for extreme off-road enthusiasts. Chevy did not. Now it will.

Carlisle said 60 per cent of Chevrolet Silverados sold now are “lifted trucks” with tall suspensions. The Silverado ZR2 will add a 420-hp, eight-cylinder gasoline engine to the formula. Carlisle said the ZR2 could account for more than 10 per cent of Silverado sales.

Ford’s Raptor has a starting price of nearly US$66,000. Carlisle said Chevrolet’s ZR2 will be more “accessible” with a lower starting price.

— Reporting for Reuters by Joe White in Detroit.

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The largest U.S. automaker will halt production next week at its Fort Wayne plant in Indiana and its Silao plant in Mexico, both of which build pickup trucks. In total, GM is cutting production at eight North American assembly plants in September.

The industry-wide chip shortage is causing massive auto production cuts around the globe and auto industry officials say the problem is getting worse.

GM shares were largely unchanged in late trading Thursday.

Earlier this week, Ford Motor Co. said it will also cut truck production next week because of the chips shortage and said its August U.S. sales were down 33 per cent on the chip shortage. Toyota said last month it will slash global production for September by 40 per cent from its previous plan.

GM will halt production at its Wentzville, Missouri plant for two weeks starting Sept. 6 that builds midsize trucks and full-size vans. GM will also halt production at its CAMI assembly plant at Ingersoll, Ont., east of London, and its San Luis Potosi assembly in Mexico for two additional weeks. The company builds its Equinox SUV at both plants.

The automaker is also idling production for two additional weeks at its Lansing Delta Township plant that builds the Chevrolet Traverse and the Buick Enclave.

GM will cut two weeks of production in September at the Spring Hill Tennessee plant that builds the GMC Acadia, Cadillac XT5 and Cadillac XT6. Its Ramos, Mexico plant will take two additional weeks of downtime for Blazer production, while Equinox production will be down through the week of Sept. 27.

Production of the Equinox has been down since Aug. 16.

Democratic Senator Mark Warner said the “continuing impact of the chip shortage — epitomized most recently in the news that GM will be forced to idle plants across North America — speaks to the urgency of passing bipartisan legislation to fund new semiconductor production in the United States.”

GM said during production downtime it will repair and ship unfinished vehicles from many impacted plants, including Fort Wayne and Silao.

— David Shepardson reports on the U.S. auto and transportation sectors for Reuters from Washington, D.C.

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The second-largest U.S. automaker identified about 8,800 Ford Ranger 2004-06 trucks in Canada and 144,340 in the U.S. that could have obsolete Takata parts. Ford said it could not locate 45 inflators that could have been installed and was recalling all of the vehicles “at the request of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration” (NHTSA).

Ford also said on Thursday it was separately recalling a group of 1,100 vehicles from the 2004 to 2011 model years that may also have had obsolete Takata service parts.

Last month, Ford said it would comply with an earlier NHTSA request to recall three million vehicles with potentially defective driver-side Takata air bags and would take a US$610 million charge.

NHTSA rejected a formal petition from Ford to avoid a recall.

The defect, which leads in rare instances to air bag inflators rupturing and sending potentially deadly metal fragments flying, prompted the largest automotive recall in U.S. history of more than 67 million inflators. Worldwide, about 100 million inflators installed by 19 major automakers have been recalled.

Also last month, NHTSA said at least 17 million U.S. vehicles with Takata air bags remain unrepaired.

Takata inflators have resulted in the deaths of at least 27 people worldwide and 18 in the United States, and over 400 reported injuries.

Two people died in Takata air bag ruptures in previously recalled 2006 Ford Ranger vehicles, with the most recent death in 2017.

In November, NHTSA said it was rejecting a petition filed by General Motors to avoid recalling 5.9 million U.S. vehicles with Takata inflators. GM said later it was taking a US$1.1 billion charge as a result of the recall.

— Reporting for Reuters by David Shepardson in Washington, D.C.

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