Global automaker General Motors Company (GM) has started the delivery of its very first next-generation electric vehicles (EV), the GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 Pickup and BrightDrop EV600 light commercial vehicle. Both vehicles are the first of its kind to be built on GM’s Ultium Platform.
Shares of GM closed down 5.5% on December 17, following the news of the resignation of the CEO of its Cruise division..
A New Chapter Begins
GM has started its transition to becoming an EV-driven company with the delivery of its GMC Hummer EV pickup and BrightDrop EV600s. The Ultium Platform is GM’s in-house EV platform, which will build their ambitious EVs across both retail and commercial vehicle offerings.
GM has planned to build about 30 new EVs globally through 2025, the majority of which will be available in North America.
Additionally, BrightDrop which is a wholly-owned unit of GM, also delivered its first 5 out of 500 electric light commercial vehicles to FedEx Inc. (FDX). The EV600s are all-electric, zero-emission vehicles, and are the fastest built from concept to market in GM’s history.
FedEx ordered these EVs as part of its goal to become carbon neutral by 2040. FDX aims to transform its pickup and delivery vehicles into zero-emission vehicles.
In a race to become the largest and best EV maker, GM is the first to roll out its EV pickup. Meanwhile, Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) is already on the top as an EV car manufacturer.
Management Comments
GM President Mark Reuss said, “Both commercial and retail customers will benefit from the EV experience, from exhilarating acceleration to low cost of operation, versatility, and ability to customize after the sale. GM is ideally positioned to provide EVs for every customer in every segment, retail or commercial.”
Commenting on the EV600s delivery to FedEx, Travis Katz, President and CEO of BrightDrop, said, “FedEx has ambitious sustainability goals, and the speed with which we brought the first BrightDrop electric vehicles to market shows how the private sector can innovate and help bring solutions for some of our biggest climate- and emissions-related challenges.”
Consensus View
Recently, Wells Fargo analyst Colin Langan lifted the price target on the stock to $74 (34.2% upside potential) from $67 while maintaining a Buy rating.
In their latest report on Auto and Auto Parts, Langan increased both North American and global production outlook for GM and said, “Overall, we expect the benefit of volume increases and positive geographic mix (N America stronger) to be offset by commodity costs (~$2b), lower credit profits, vehicle mix headwinds, and higher BEV investment costs.”
Overall, the stock commands a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 11 Buys and 2 Holds. The average General Motors price target of $74.15 implies 34.4% upside potential to current levels. Shares have gained 33.8% over the past year.
Website Traffic
TipRanks’ Website Traffic tool, which uses data from SEMrush Holdings (SEMR), the world’s biggest website usage monitoring service, offers insight into GM’s performance.
In November, General Motors website traffic recorded a 13.81% year-over-year decline in monthly visits. Similarly, year-to-date website traffic growth decreased by 7.74% compared to the same period last year.
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