GM hourly workers getting $12K each in biggest ever profit-sharing checks
FLINT, MI -- General Motors hourly employees are getting their biggest-ever profit-sharing checks -- payouts of $12,750 that will be made next month. GM’s announcement came on Tuesday, Jan. 31, as the company detailed financial results for 2022, including a $500-million profit-sharing pool that will be shared among 42,300 eligible workers. GM reported fourth-quarter 2022 revenue of $43.1 billion and revenue of $156.7 billion for the full calendar year. Officials for the company are expected to detail the financial results in a conference call on Tuesday. “We expect that our momentum will help us deliver strong results once again in 2023.
mlive.comGeneral Motors gets $2.5B federal loan to build EV battery plants
The U.S. Department of Energy announced Monday it will lend $2.5 billion to General Motors and LG to construct new electric vehicle battery plants in Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. In Michigan, GM is expanding an Orion Township plant, building an electric battery manufacturing facility in Lansing and making upgrades to two Lansing area plants. The $2.5 billion loan is going to Ultium Cells LLC, of which GM and LG are partners. The loan is through the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) program, which provides loans to support U.S. manufacturing of light-duty vehicles, qualifying components, and materials that improve fuel economy. The automaker estimated 4,000 new jobs would be created in Michigan after the EV battery plant is fully operational.
mlive.comGM CEO Barra says headquarters to stay in downtown Detroit
General Motors will keep its headquarters in its seven-building office tower complex in downtown Detroit, its CEO says. Mary Barra, in an interview with The Associated Press, said the automaker's main office will remain in the Renaissance Center, the centerpiece of the city's skyline just across the Detroit River from Canada. “Our headquarters will always be in Detroit, in the RenCen,” she said, using the name given to the complex by locals.
news.yahoo.comGM will pass Tesla in U.S. electric vehicle sales, CEO Mary Barra predicts
Last year GM sold just 25,000 electric vehicles in the U.S., less than one-tenth of the estimated 352,000 sold by Tesla. They’ll join a couple of gargantuan Hummer EVs, an upcoming electric Silverado pickup and a Cadillac luxury SUV in taking on Tesla. Part of the strategy is convincing buyers that an electric vehicle can meet all their transportation needs. GM exited Europe in 2017 by selling its Opel brand after years of losses, but Barra said plans are being formed to re-enter the huge market with electric vehicles. Most electric vehicles, for instance, are sold on the coasts, where people tend to have more liberal views.
mlive.comAutomakers ask Congress to lift electric vehicle tax cap
Major automakers are asking Congress to lift the cap on how many people can receive tax credits for buying a hybrid or fully electric vehicle. In a letter to leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives on Monday, the chief executives of Ford, Toyota, GM and Stellantis asked that tax credits be extended to anyone who seeks to buy a qualified vehicle. Currently the number of tax credits allowed are capped at 200,000 per company.
news.yahoo.comGM CEO Mary Barra's two-word dress code still applies
Back when General Motors CEO Mary Barra was an HR executive at the automaker, she revised the dress code from several pages to two words: Dress appropriately.Back then there was some agreement on what that meant.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Why it matters: Now as people slowly return to the office, there's confusion. Many grew accustomed to elastic waistbands; we haven't buttoned or zipped pants in a while. There are big questions: Are sweatpants OK
news.yahoo.comBoosted by state incentives, General Motors making $7B investment in Michigan, creating 4,000 jobs
LANSING - General Motors, building toward an all-electric future, plans to invest $7 billion and create 4,000 jobs across four manufacturing sites in Michigan. “It will create ripple effects in our community for decades and decades to come,” said Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett. It was created late last year after Michigan lost out on an $11.4 billion electric vehicle investment from Ford Motor Company. They join the Factory ZERO plant, formerly Detroit-Hamtramck, that opened last year as an electric vehicle facility. General Motors plans to roll out 30 electric vehicle models by 2025 and transition to solely manufacturing electric vehicles in 2035.
mlive.comGM responds to allegations of racism
DETROIT – GM is responding to allegations of racism that were printed in a full-page advertisement in Sunday’s Detroit Free Press. The advertisement accuses GM CEO Mary Barra of consistently refusing to meet with several Black-owned media companies. Detroiter Byron Allen is asking GM to allocate at least 5% of its advertising budget to go toward Black-owned media companies. The ad claims less than 1% of GM’s marketing budget goes toward Black-owned media companies. GMThe automaker cited its work with HBCUs, its partnership with National Association Of Black Owned Broadcasters and AIMM.
GM expands board to 13 with Meg Whitman and NBA's Mark Tatum
General Motors expanded its board of directors to 13, appointing former Hewlett-Packard chief Whitman and NBA executive Mark Tatum effective Thursday, March 25, 2021. Seven of GMs directors are now women, including board chair and Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra, who in 2014 became the first woman to lead a major U.S. automaker. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)DETROIT – General Motors said Thursday that it has expanded its board to 13 members and appointed former Hewlett-Packard chief Meg Whitman and NBA executive Mark Tatum as directors. There has been an acknowledgment in the U.S. and abroad that white men are overrepresented on the boards of major corporations. Women hold 43.8% of the board seats at companies in France’s 40 biggest publicly traded companies, the U.K. panel said.
Marriott CEO Sorenson, 62, dies of pancreatic cancer
FILE - In this Dec. 19, 2012, file photo, Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for a Marriott hotel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Sorenson was the third CEO in Marriotts 93-year history, and the first without the Marriott surname. Sorenson reduced his schedule at Marriott this month to pursue a more aggressive cancer treatment. He was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2019; a recent routine scan had confirmed the cancer had returned, the company said. Sorenson was the first Marriott CEO whose name was not Marriott, and only the third to lead the company in its 93-year history.
Cost of a single Bitcoin exceeds $50,000 for first time
– The seemingly unstoppable rise of Bitcoin continued Tuesday with the cost of a single unit of the digital currency rising above $50,000 for the first time. Bitcoin is rallying as more companies signal the digital currency could eventually gain widespread acceptance as a means of payment. Some businesses also accept bitcoin, but its popularity has stalled out in recent years. Overstock.com appears to accept Bitcoin for most listings on its website, including cameras, vacuums and clothes. When this bubble bursts and at what price Bitcoin settles at is anyone’s guess,” Reiners said.
GM's Chevy Bolt SUV joins parade of new US electric vehicles
The Bolt Electric Utility Vehicle will go on sale early this summer as a 2022 model. About 2.5 million electric vehicles were sold worldwide last year. Fully electric vehicles accounted for less than 2% of U.S. new vehicle sales last year, and Americans continue to spend record amounts on larger gas-powered trucks and SUVs. IHS Markit analyst Stephanie Brinley said the new SUV is another step toward wider adoption of fully electric vehicles, but it will take many more. The credit is phased out after manufacturers hit 200,000 in electric vehicle sales, and GM and Tesla have both passed that level.
Autoworkers face uncertain future in an era of electric cars
It also clouded the future for 50,000 GM workers whose skills — and jobs — could become obsolete far sooner than they knew. But President Joe Biden has made the development of a U.S. electric vehicle supply chain a key part of his ambitious plan to create 1 million more auto industry jobs with electric vehicles. The more environmentally focused plants of the future will need fewer workers, mainly because electric vehicles contain 30% to 40% fewer moving parts than petroleum-run vehicles. At the century-old transmission plant in Toledo, GM workers make sophisticated six-, eight-, nine- or 10-speed gearboxes. Eventually, those parts will be replaced by far simpler single-speed drivetrains for electric vehicles.
GM 2020 profit drops, but it makes $6.43B despite pandemic
General Motors net profit fell 4.5% in 2020, but a strong second half more than offset the effects of pandemic-related factory closures and a costly air bag recall. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)DETROIT – General Motors' profit fell 4.5% in 2020, but a strong second half more than offset the effects of pandemic-related factory closures and a costly air bag recall. GM predicted the shortage will cost it $1.5 billion to $2 billion in earnings before taxes this year due to lost production. Still, GM expects pretax income for the year of $10 billion to $11 billion, or $4.50 to $5.25 per share. Of that, $6 billion would go to electric vehicles and $1 billion would go to autonomous, Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said.
General Motors sets goal of going largely electric by 2035
The Detroit automaker's push into electric vehicles has gone into overdrive this year. By the end of 2025, 40% of its U.S. models will be battery electric vehicles. The company plans to include crossovers, SUVs, sedans and trucks in its electric vehicle lineup. It's also working with others, including the Environmental Defense Fund, to build out the necessary infrastructure to power its electric vehicles and to promote their use. It wants to be seen as a clean vehicle company, rather than a builder of cloud-spewing gas-powered pickups and SUVs.
5 CES Trends to Watch
FILE - People look at a 145 inch Ultra Large UHD display in the LG booth at the CES tech show, on Jan. 8, 2020, in Las Vegas. CES, the annual gadget show that showcases the buzziest and brightest tech, looks different this year less Vegas glitz, more internet efficiency. Trends to watch reflect the tumultuous year that preceded it. These include COVID-related robots and gadgets, products that make it easier to work from home, more uses for 5G technology, AI infused in everything, and TVs that can bend or even become transparent. On the last day of CES, Samsung will debut its new 5G enabled iteration of its Samsung Galaxy phone — an event that isn't affiliated with CES but still likely to draw buzz.