General Motors Reports ‘Strong’ Earnings for First Quarter

In a letter to stockholders Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors Co. of Detroit, stated that the company “again delivered strong earnings thanks to healthy customer demand for our vehicles, our intense focus on operational excellence, and great teamwork between GM, our dealers, our suppliers, and our unions. I want to thank everyone for their efforts.”

Barra also told stockholders that the GM International team has pivoted from restructuring its business to earning record profits, excluding China.  She stated that early orders for the new Chevrolet Trax in Korea and the Chevrolet Montana in Brazil came in at a record pace.

Overall, GM had $40 billion in revenue and sold 864,000 units wholesale. Net income was $2.3 billion in the first quarter of the year, compared to $2.8 billion in 2022. Capital expenditures were up, $2.4 billion in 2023 compared to $1.6 billion in 2022.

Total automotive liquidity was at $13.5 billion, and cash was reported at $21.4 billion in 2023. That compared to $15.1 billion in liquidity and $24.4 in cash in 2023. Total automotive debt declined from $17.8 billion at the end of 2022 to $16.4 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2023.

In the U.S. market, GM led the industry in retail and fleet deliveries, commercial deliveries, and truck sales. GM also earned the largest year-over-year increase in market share of any automaker with “strong production, inventory discipline, and consistent pricing.”

In addition, GM delivered more than 20,000 EVs, thanks to the third consecutive quarter of record Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV deliveries and rising Cadillac LYRIQ sales. “We are now No. 2 in the U.S. market, and we increased our EV market share by 8 percentage points,” Barra wrote.

Barra continued that GM is raising its full-year 2023 earnings guidance to a range of $11 billion-$13 billion. The company was able to grow its market share by an estimated 1.3 percent year-over-year, which was the most in the industry.

This growth is being driven by the company’s full-size pickup trucks, SUVs, and midsize pickup trucks, the company says. And EVs are adding momentum to commercial sales, with the Chevrolet Silverado EV and the BrightDrop Zevo 600 enjoying strong launches in the first quarter, says GM.

Fleet sales saw a 27 percent increase year-over-year in the first quarter. The company was also able to increase battery production of its Ultium cells at its facility in Ohio. GM says it expects to reach full production capacity by the end of the year. And its second cell plant in Tennessee is nearly complete. The company says it expects to hire workers shortly and the site should be operational by the end of the year. GM’s Michigan cell plant is expected to be operational in 2024.

In other news, the company estimates that it will reach its fixed cost reduction goal of at least $2 billion. GM also reported that it expects to have a strong core auto operating performance in 2023, with an adjusted EBIT ranging from $11 to $13 billion. This is up from a previously projected $10.5 billion-$12.5 billion.

The company also projects that by 2030 it will double its revenue to between $275 billion and $315 billion. This is being driven by the Ultium platform, which will be used to launch high-volume EV products into multiple segments.