Former Ford Motor Co. CEO Mark Fields expressed doubts about General Motors Corp.'s (NYSE:GM) ability to achieve mass adoption of its electric vehicles (EVs).
What Happened: Fields, in a comment on GM's EV push, stated during CNBC's "Last Call" on Tuesday, "Getting early adopters is one thing. Getting mass adoption is much harder."
The comment appeared after GM announced a delay in its EV production target of one million units beyond 2025. Fields called this move a "huge pivot" for the company which had planned to stop producing gas cars completely from 2035 and produce 2 million EVs annually by 2026.
"They're the most exposed and they're also the latest to hybrids, their hybrids aren't going to be in the marketplace for another couple of years," Fields added.
"Getting early adopters is one thing. Getting mass adoption is much harder," says Mark Fields on GM's EV push. "They're the most exposed and they're also the latest to hybrids, their hybrids aren't going to be in the marketplace for another couple years."$GM pic.twitter.com/T546sKh34W
— Last Call (@LastCallCNBC) July 16, 2024
Why It Matters: GM recently announced a delay in its EV production target of one million units beyond 2025. CEO Mary Barra attributed this to the market's slower development, stating, "We will not get to a million just because the market is not developing."
Despite the delay, Barra reiterated the company's commitment to an all-electric future, emphasizing the importance of the vehicle as a software platform.
GM's EV strategy has received significant support from the Biden administration, which recently granted nearly $1.1 billion to GM and Chrysler-parent Stellantis N.V. (NYSE:STLA) to transform their facilities into EV manufacturing hubs. This initiative aims to enable these facilities to produce 1 million EVs annually.
Price Action: On Tuesday, at the time of writing, GM was trading 0.26% higher at $49.43 after closing at $49.30 on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro.
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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari