The tough reaction to GM’s numbers – and Wednesday’s strong results from Toyota Motor and Honda Motor – underscore the uncertainty facing global automakers at a time of technological and economic disruption.
Barra, in a call with investors to present the company’s results, said GM “will continue to see the impact this year” from the chip shortage, which it expects to continue next year.
But he noted that trucks, SUVs and crossovers will help underpin results starting in the second half, adding: “We will see that a strong pricing environment will continue through the rest of the year and into 2022.”
General Motors on Wednesday reported net income of $ 2.8 billion, or $ 1.90 per share, compared with a loss in the same quarter last year of $ 806 million, or 56 cents a share. Analysts were expecting $ 2.23 a share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
GM’s results showed that the company’s short-term profits are largely dependent on the sale of lucrative combustion-engine pickup trucks and large sport utility vehicles in North America.
GM’s electric car sales in the United States accounted for approximately 1.6% of second-quarter deliveries in the country.
But GM’s truck franchise market faces threats from Washington, where the administration of President Joe Biden is expected to propose stricter vehicle emissions limits and an accelerated switch to electric vehicles.
Like its rivals, GM is also facing uncertainty due to the rapid spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus. GM, Ford Motor and Stellantis, along with the United Auto Workers, reinstated mandatory mask use in their US factories on Tuesday and called on workers to get vaccinated.
GM’s unsold vehicle inventories as of June 30 were half of the prior year levels. The company said it had $ 1.4 billion worth of vehicles in its inventory that had been manufactured without some electronic modules due to a lack of semiconductors.