The changing political and regulatory landscape around EVs that is expected to emerge from Donald Trump’s victory in the recent presidential election will not alter the planned trajectory of the GM electric vehicle strategy, according to a high-ranking company executive.
GM will continue to push forward with its EV transition as before, The General’s CFO Paul Jacobson said while speaking at Barclay’s 15th Annual Global Automotive and Mobility Tech Conference on November 20th, 2024.
Paul Jacobson
Jacobson declared that GM has been “consistent that we’re not looking to next quarter, next year, et cetera,” and instead is “thinking about this in a much longer time horizon.” This approach, he says, “allows us to be a little bit more stable.” About a year ago, GM CEO Mary Barra still plans a fully electrified lineup by 2035, and Jacobson’s remarks seem to indicate this plan is still in place.
GM and other automakers will certainly be operating in a different environment than during the past few years. Once Trump assumes the post of 47th U.S. President, he likely plans to remove the $7,500 federal Clean Vehicle Credit that buyers of EVs received during the Biden administration’s tenure. A Republican-majority Congress will probably support the move.
Furthermore, the NHTSA requirement that new cars achieve 50.4 miles per gallon fuel efficiency by 2031 is now unlikely to come to fruition. The Trump administration will probably cut fuel economy requirements sharply as part of its EV mandate rollback. If fuel economy standards get frozen, this could slow the pace of the EV transition markedly.
Tariffs on imported vehicles and components are also likely to skyrocket, but GM says it is resilient and will adapt to the new situation. Jacobson also remained confident that the automaker can weather removal of the federal EV tax credit, noting, “I think the technology is going to continue to win people over, but we’ve got to be able to produce vehicles that our customers want.”
He then added, “and we have that unique position,” explaining that GM has the production flexibility to respond quickly and effectively to customer demand. The GM CFO highlighted the company’s willingness to adapt to Trump’s second presidency as well, saying “we’re going to continue to work with the incoming administration and figure out the best path forward.”
Comments
Another stoned auto exec blowing meaningless hot air. He also bans use of certain words. Too much free time…
I know one in the words gm’s upper management has banned over the years is “competence”
hence the record profits? Interesting.
Man, I would hope they have record profits. Any company NOT getting record profits after the terrible rate of inflation that past 4 years is dying. Thanks to trucks and SUVs, gm is able to carry all their losses on these EVs.
excuses, there have been plenty of times over the decades when the overall economy was good and GM was barely keeping its head above water. They have been delivering profits for many years under Barra so to call her incompetent is just stupid. And calling her that because you hate EVs is even more stupid. Trucks and SUVs and lux vehicles are always profit drivers, period. Lower end models don’t generate profits and haven’t for a while- one reason why small cars are disappearing.
You mean the record profits begat by gouging customers and importing record amounts of vehicles from China, Korea, and Mexico?
Wait what? When did you hear about this? Genuinely asking not disputing here. What words did he ban?
normalizing I think was the word
Hubris: an extreme or excessive amount of pride, arrogance, or dangerous overconfidence
Also known as “Politicians”, whether it be “Hope” or “MAGA”…..it’s all hubris.
How could a senior management official of GM ignore the realities of the changing marketplace ?
Electrification may happen over time , however GM appears to be pushing this strategy faster than the marketplace is ready to accept it.
Cadillac is pursuing electrification even faster than the other divisions. The generally conservative (and loyal) customers of this iconic brand will migrate to competitive brands who are pursuing a dual strategy of electric and ICE vehicles through the transitional period.
This current electrification obsession at GM will cost the company billions of dollars and significant market share.
you may want to read the article so you can respond intelligently. He said in the article they have a lot of flexibility in their production and they can scale up or down on Evs- they aren’t going to overreact like all the idiots on here who are hyped up about the supposed EV apocalypse. What he is saying is that they are planning for a future that is beyond the next 4 years- which is smart.
You guys didn’t think that Blackrock, Vanguard, State Street and their friends at the WEF would change course this easily, did you?
We’ll see what happens when the $7500 government welfare handout stops.
the US is all about corporate welfare. Why are you so offended by this one program that doesn’t take a dime out of your pockets?
Because it’s all about partisanship, no one cares about America succeeding anymore, just their “side”. It’s all about pwning the Libs or defeating the Neocons. It’s like a religion to some people that only their political “side” can do anything correct. People that want ANY administration to fail do NOT have the interests of America in mind, only their own personal interests. The economy is right back where it was during Trump. If those economic indices were great for him, why are they seen as a failure under Biden? I didn’t vote for either one of them so I have no dog in the fight. Say what we want, Biden’s policies kept us out of the recession that everyone feared. We did well under Trump until Covid hit, and Biden got us back to those levels. Why are we incapable of saying when “the other side” does something right? It’s ok to do that. Sometimes they are. That doesn’t mean we like them, just that a broken clock is right twice a day.
Please go back and look at the economic data in 2019. It had already started a downturn (under Trump) and continued the first years under Biden. His CHIPS Act was the first honest attempt to bring manufacturing back to the US that either party had done in many years.
The economy is cyclical and any president has only a little control over it.
That is true, too bad FauxNews and MSNBCNN don’t say that then everyone would be on the same page.
To syj215, where do you think the $7500 comes from if it doesn’t come out of the pocket of the tax payers? I understand that it’s a tax credit, but if the Feds are subsiding $7500 of the cost of a new EV, that’s $7500 that’s not going into the general fund and thus has to be made up by other tax payers.
I have no desire to own an EV, but I also don’t have any problem with automakers building them, or individuals who want one, buying one. What I don’t like is the government forcing anything, including EV’s on the public. I also do not like the government rewarding people for buying EV’s, or spending tax payer dollars to build charging stations. When the horseless carriage arrived 125 years ago, the government didn’t step in and build gas stations. Private individuals looked at the car and knew there was a future in making fuel available to them, and built garages and gas stations. When EV’s actually become a viable alternative to ICE vehicles, I’m sure the private sector will step up and develop a full network of reliable and readily available charging stations. And they’ll do it for far less money than what the government is spending to build them. Until then, the government should get out of the way and let the buying public decide when they’re ready to buy EV’s and let the private sector decide when EV charging stations are a smart and profitable business to get into.
Where do the trillion dollar tax cuts for the wealthy the trump passed come from? The EV tax credit pales in comparison to those. And the EV tax credits have driven jobs creation.
Big Oil will still get its handouts. Big Agriculture will still get its handout. Big Energy will still get its handouts. China will own the EV market. We’ll complain that we should have done something. The rich will get richer, the income gap will widen, no one will care.
Let’s end the subsidies for petroleum, housing, transportation, agriculture, healthcare, Amazon and the energy sectors as well. If one tiny little subsidy is bad then they’re all bad, right? Remember, this will affect Tesla as well……that right-wing darling of industry relies on selling tax credits and they’re purchasers rely on the EV tax credit just as much as all those left-wing hippies.
I know you were probably being sarcastic….but I’m actually ok with ending subsidies across all industries, automotive included.
I was, to an extent, but yes. Certain political aspects are adamant about killing a tiny subsidy but they don’t seem to mind the billions that go to petroleum, agriculture, energy, etc., They’re all for “letting the market decide” until it affects something that they don’t want to pay full price for. The Government subsidizes so many industries that it’s almost comical all the spittle and gnashing of teeth towards the EV tax credit. End them all or allow them all. Subsidies “level the playing field” so burgeoning markets can compete, otherwise there will be no innovation and China will snatch another industry from us like they did solar power because we’re so focused on being rich right now that we can’t see tomorrow’s problems.
Well said!
its great that you’re for it- but its not being proposed. So if we aren’t going to have level playing field leave the damn tax rebate alone.
AhodieVW: There you go making perfectly good common sense. So you do realize that on this site your comments will be met with all kinds of ignorance. Your points are spot on. And although I am glad to see some on here (like you) with valid and truthful points, they will all land with a thud because many on here are about as open minded as the KKK.
Thanks. Yeah, I know I’m a crowd of one.
Being honest with ourselves is the hardest thing to do and being honest about how things actually work politically is just as hard to do. Both sides have missteps, both sides make progress. It’s a pendulum. We can’t have it I’m just so tired of the hubris of those on top. Hubris also applies to those who think their political party is the End All, Be All or the ONLY way to “save” America. America doesn’t need “saved”. America doesn’t need to be made great again, it is great. If people don’t think America is great now and always thanks to its successes and despite its flaws, they can leave. Love it or leave goes both ways. It blows my mind that the mere existence of what is essentially an appliance utilized to convey people and cargo to and fro could bring so much anger, hate, discontent and vitriol between what is supposed to be a country of individuals believing in a common state of existence is just pathetic and frustrating. I totally blame the “news” media. If they didn’t stir the pot by dividing us into audiences we may actually stop fighting long enough to have a civil discussion.
Sorry if you don’t like my opinions, welcome to America: we all think and feel differently about issues but we still stay together. It’s how we’ve lasted so many years. Please tell me why one side or the other is correct and I’ll listen, I may not agree but I’ll listen. Spout off partisan BS and you’ll get nowhere. Truth rules.
You’re correct about the media, either way (liberal or conservative) it takes an ignorant audience to think its all or nothing, and boy does this comment section have an abundance of ignoramuses .
If you have a competitive EV well priced like the Equinox EV, then GM has nothing to worry about. At $35k the Nox is an excellent offering and decent alternative to the Model Y. Add to that the Bolt EV which will be even better priced and hopefully well equipped like the Trax and GM would be on track to lead the EV race with Hyundai/KIA as its biggest competitor. Everyone else better start making affordability a priority or start waving the white flag.
One more thing. I am getting tired of the “removing the NHTSA requirement that new cars achieve 50.4 miles per gallon fuel efficiency by 2031 will stifle EV development.” If there is a demand for it, then there shouldn’t be any stifling happening. There will be a niche market for EVs and when the tech improves then we can talk about phasing out ICEs. In the meantime, there is plenty of demand for improving the ICE for better fuel economy. So enough with the stifling. Let the market dictate. Otherwise people will resist being forced into buying something they aren’t comfortable with.
The problem with “let the market dictate” is that the market is a short-term thinking arena. Long-term problems – whether pollution, worker safety, child labor, living wage, product safety, etc. – are squeezed out and become burdens on society at large. Only government intervention can ‘internalize’ into the market – through taxes and / or regulation – these external problems. It’s basic economics that anyone with an awareness of such things knows. Wise up.
You are right in that we need checks and balances and guardrails. The problem is, we’ve gone WAY TOO FAR in one direction. Even with DOGE about to fire up, it’s hard to imagine us going too far in the opposite direction any time soon.
I completely agree with you in that the market is a short-term thinking arena. But regulators need to come to terms with that because that is not going to change. In the US, and places like Canada, the automobile is a necessity. NOT a luxury. Its a tool necessary for making a living unless you live in the greater NYC or Chicago area. You cannot force a change upon the people telling them they need to shell out $40k for a basic car because it carries a battery pack when they can barely afford a $25k car. The short-term thinking market is more concerned with being able to put food on the table than caring for emissions because that is a problem that affect them immediately. Not being able to eat and starving to death is a more immediate issue for many families now. There needs to be a balance. Right now, there is demand for EVs albeit only in the upper class market because of price. Start advancing the tech and manufacturing and then the short-term thinking market will adapt the new tech.
Under the mindset of these people we wouldn’t have an interstate highway system- that was an expensive initiative paid for by the federal government for the national interests, if it had been left to the private sector (which it had been) we would have a patchwork of inconsistent and pricey toll roads coast to coast. Interstate highways were pushed by a republican president, as was the creation of the EPA.
Except, that’s just an opinion, an agenda. Not all of us want to pursue that agenda no matter how much you think it’s some sort of holy crusade for the good of everyone.
wtf are you talking about? Can you outline how the government is forcing you to buy an EV? What law has made that happen? Can you tell me the year in which the government has committed to phase out of gas cars and trucks? Have V8s been banned? Turbo 6s? If there was any real move to push people out of gas cars the first thing that would be done is tax gas higher- that aint happening.
But FauxNews told me I had to give up my big truck for a ‘lectrick! LOL
I’ve said repeatedly here, there is NO mandate but people just keep listening to the talking heads that are telling them to be mad about something….anything…as long as they keep listening and not thinking or, I don’t know, checking for legislation that doesn’t exist.
Whether you choose to accept it or continue living with your head buried under the sand (like the rest of the dems party are doing), the fact of the matter is Republicans won by a landslide and Trump won the popular vote as well because voters have grown tired of being ignored and gaslit. Voters are facing an immediate problem of high prices for necessities only for the current administration to completely gas light the issue and tell them “You guys have it good now. Now please stop buying a $25k gas powered car and buy a $45k electric car instead.” Even the Amish grew tired of the dems and once they started overreaching for their livelihoods, their farms, they decided they had enough and voted.
One more thing. They most certainly ARE mandating them. Go look up ICE bans in states like California, NY, NJ, and handful of others. They aren’t happening on the federal level yet, but just like dems wanna whine about abortion, its at the state level and there are states moving to force it upon the working people.
So either the dems start listening to the voters needs and stop focusing on dumb s*** like gender neutral bathrooms, playing captain planet, or who my child should be able to tell they want to be a trans without needing to tell the parents, or they can continue to lose elections going forward in the face of controversial and outsider candidates like Trump.
AhodieVW, I’m honestly curious what you are watching or reading that is telling you this isn’t happening? Anyone can type “ICE bans” into Google and instantly pull up thousands of links. Heck, even Wikipedia (the 2nd result on page 1) has background, methods, maps, years, tables, etc.
Guessing that you don’t live in a deep blue star, in my case NY, where Hochul has already targeted out ICE vehicles and I believe it was announced last week, the end of all hydrocarbon – well, everything you can think of. Enjoy your red state, I’m envious. Sign me, “out of here for a million different reasons” first chance I get.
My guess is your biased take on whatever NY is doing is flawed so until I read about this ban on gas cars I’ll take that with a grain of salt. And even it were the case, it can be reversed or scaled back in a future administration. So tell us in what year are gas cars going to be illegal in NY state?
“Let the market decide” only works if all the costs of mfg, use, and disposal are properly accounted for in the price the consumer pays.
The use of burning gasoline for transportation has huge unaccounted for externalities in the form of increased healthcare costs, climate change impacts and mitigation, military costs for protection of oil resources and trade routes.
The healthcare costs alone due to the pollution is estimated at over $5/gal.
So make gas $10/gal and people would be screaming for highly efficient transportation like EVs. Or better yet, mass transit.
Absolutely NOT true.. if you work in a plant that makes GM EV parts, your budget is deep in the red, against the investment capital to meet what GM “said” you were going to need to supply. No one who’s in that business is happy about the overstated, ridiculously lofty production numbers that suppliers were promised and had to invest to meet. And for 2026, GM already knows that Gen 6 engine numbers will double what they were planning on, with the EV numbers in the tank… So, stay the course and keep hemorrhaging money. Smart businessmen know better than to get into the automotive business..
you are seriously saying that sales of next gen V8s will double current sales? Uh, ok.
I didn’t say that, I said double “what they were planning on.” The belief was that EV sales would displace a huge volume of the GenVI engines and as fast as they can, they’re telling suppliers to double old projected numbers. Past attention..
Then I am on schedule to buy another brand.
I’m with you. Ford is looking better and better and saying the right things.
Lowercase gm can sell EVs to… the same folks lowercase jaguar is now courting, I guess.
Trump will cancel the EV tax credit, making EV’s too expensive for the average consumer. He will kill the fuel mileage goals, as he should. He will reopen the pipeline and the drilling leases. All done until the infrastructure bill of $5 billion for chargers is accounted for and the infrastructure is actually in place.
There also needs to be a push back to nuclear power. The only true alternative to base load energy requirements.
The cheapest EV is $27,500. People can afford that without the tax credit. There are quite a few EV’s that cost less than $40K, which is still $8K less than the average new car purchase price, so the whole “too expensive for the average consumer” line is just a line. It’s not a fact. Is $48K too much for an ICE? No? So why is it too expensive for an EV? The argument doesn’t hold water. Biden opened drilling leases, too. Guess what? We don’t use that oil, we sell it. Funny enough it was the Republican party that created the EPA and the NHTSA fuel economy standards so it’s time we stopped blaming the Democrats for the creation of it. Yeah, they’ve gone too far with it, I’ll give ya that, although without it would we have all the innovation in ICE technology that it forced us to take? Doubtful. If there were no reason to do better, most companies would choose to not spend the money in development. It’s a double-edged sword.
Oh yeah, the Republicans also started the EV tax credit in 2008.
Truth hurt?
There was record oil production and exports from the U.S. in 2023. Biden wasn’t shutting down anything. There are still thousands of unused oil leases. Trump can’t magically change my of that. The pipeline y’all go on about was for a foreign company from Canada to pump toxic tar sand oils across sensitive areas and through private US citizens property. To be exported for sale and not even suitable to make gasoline.
I’m quite certain that my Lyriq was only possible because of government support in so many ways helping to finance the battery manufacturing and charging infrastructure and more to make EV transition a reality.
I certainly enjoyed receiving a $7,500 tax credit for my purchase.
But, now that I’ve had my EV for almost a year I can honestly say I would have purchased it without the tax credit. It is simply that good. It is fun, fast and comfortable. For those reasons I purchased five Corvettes with no tax credit.
People I speak to a charging stations really love their EVs. In my 20,000 + miles of EV driving and ownership I’ve never enjoyed a car more or have it be so simple to live with on a day to day basis. The good news for those people who want to experience the benefits of EV ownership at a low cost is that there are some really deals on used EVs.
You’ve hit the nail on the head. Most people who are so vehemently opposed to EVs have never had (or taken) the opportunity to drive one. I’m a little late to the party, having purchased a used 2022 Tesla Model 3 about 5 months ago. Before that purchase, I drove a Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Chevy Blazer EV, and Tesla Model Y and Model 3. They were all good cars, equal to or better than their ICE equivalents. They were all also more fun to drive than their ICE equivalents. The other cars in my garage are a 2019 Mazda CX-5 Signature, and a 2020 C8 Corvette 2LT Coupe. The Model 3 I bought is almost as much fun to drive as the Vette, and has saved over $100 per month in gasoline costs so far. Our electric rate is $0.14 per kWh, and our gasoline prices hover around $4 per gallon. Fuel costs are around 5 cents per mile for the Tesla and 17 to 20 cents per mile for the Mazda and the Vette. I performed the 6,250-mile service on the Tesla myself, which consisted of… tire rotation. I have a friend who just sold his 2019 Model 3 with 91,000+ miles on it when he bought a newer Model 3. Other than tires, his total maintenance cost for 91,000 miles of service was $500, for replacing one sensor and one camera. That kind of service savings is hard to beat compared to any ICE vehicle.
Easy to see the executive is a Democrat. Republicans always change their strategy when times change, while the Democrats stay the course even when it is the wrong action despite recognizing that it is flawed or incorrect.
I think without the tax credit GM will have to lower price . Same with rivian and other ev brands . They’ve spend lot money on EVs so there’s no going back for GM . Ford still has hybrids
I will just never understand why a vehicle Technology became to extremely politicized.
Because the media wants us fighting amongst each other, then we can simply tune into our propaganda source of choice and stay angry. An angry populace is easily controlled. It all is about money, and not our money, THEIR money and how they can get more. It’s about viewership, the news isn’t the news anymore it’s a product just like everything else and the sheeple that tune in to FauxNews and MSNBC don’t think for themselves, they just lap it up because it gets them mad at the “right people” so they don’t need to think or actually be a part of the process anymore.
Good theory
it is so weird.
I know EV drivers that are HUGE Trump fans (Pre Elon) and HUGE Liberals and some that could literally care less about Politics.
You may have a point about the Media!!!
The tech itself it not. The WEF bought politicians and execs (not just in the USA) promoting ICE bans, regulations that ICE cannot meet, and other de facto mandates are what makes it political.
There is NO ICE ban not even in California.
By 2035 ALL new vehicles must be electrified that are sold AS NEW in Cali….that means Hybrids and PHEV’s
The Media and Politicians are straight up lying
85ZingoGTR – See? Can’t even have a civil conversation without insults and insinuations. That’s called partisanship. I’m not a Democrat or a Republican. I’m an American. I am registered as an independent so I can vote for who I feel is right instead of being a good little boy and following a self-serving political party. We’re talking about the EV tax credit, why bring transgenderism, voting or abortion into it? Why can’t we just have a civil discussion about tax credits and Government subsidies? I’ve learned that if people feel the need to get personal during a disagreement it’s due to fear.
Since August of 2022 MA has instituted a ban on ICE vehicles, effective 2035. For decades there has not been anything even close to enough Republicans to mount any opposition to democrat polices in MA. Also, the entire congressional delegation is Democrat including a “Fake Indian” senator.
If it’s following the CA CARB rules, it’s not a ban. It’s a sales percentage target for the manufacturers. And it allows for a certain percentage to be PHEVs and larger heavy duty vehicles to still be gas/diesel.
If the automakers don’t meet the sales percentage goals, they have to pay fines.
There isn’t a registration ban, so you can still get a used ICE vehicle or “import” and new ICE vehicle from out of state.
We have to stop thinking of each other, both Republicans and Democrats, as enemies, it’s getting ridiculous. We’re all Americans first and foremost, voting one way or the other doesn’t mean that that person “hates America”, we each vote our conscience, that doesn’t make any of us bad people. This partisanship HAS to stop.
Really? THAT got a thumbs down?! Does that mean that someone LIKES hating each other?
The problem is the GOP crowd and right-wing media pushing all the culture war hate against women, minorities, immigrants, LGBTQ, etc.
The idea of “can’t we all just be friends” sort of falls apart when one side is trying to treat other people as less than equal and pushing laws that harm them.
I’m a car guy, I don’t like SUV’s and I don’t like Trucks. When I take my Corvette in for service at my GM dealer or my wife’s Buick SUV I don’t see a single thing I want to buy. It used to be fun to walk around the dealer show room or outside in nice weather and look at all the new cars. Now I just look at my iphone.
Sad but true. They lost me when they started producing so many of their products outside the USA
The Chevrolet dealers I’ve been to in last couple weeks (multiple dealers as I’m sourcing a Camaro air dam) each have 5 C8s to look at. So, fun to look at them and actually contemplate a purchase at significantly below MSRP.
EV s are the most unintelligent boring concept that ever came out . I’ll take a jet car anytime 😄
No one likes to inhale NOX and Soot off of anything including ICE vehicles. EV charging networks and streamlined per KWH cost is needed, as well as EV affordablity are the biggest hurdles, even ICE vehicles are more costly these days , due to greed and short sightedness of Auto Execs who were after short term gains and It takes time and Gov. & Regulations to drive innovations in electrification, we are 10-15 years behind China now and need Investment in securing the EV raw materials to catch up . FYI, Petro Dollar exclusive trade in US$ contract was let to expire by Suadi Arabia on June 2024. North America and EU alies need to make better competitive and more affordable EVs than China to win this battle. Otherwise you cannot go backward to good old known working technology and promote Horse and buggies and streets full of horse manures and related disease vs Automobiles that is backpedaling and not MAGA.
You can never compete with China and it’s slave labor wages unless folks in the US and Europe are willing to work for free.
How about a new strategy to help your dealers with all these absurd constraint issues that we have to deal with weekly? We can’t give the customer what they want.
GM Corporate created its own EV problem with investors. I don’t have a problem with EVs, but let’s get on board with solving all the ICE constraints first…..
The Captain and Officers of the Titanic,
” Damn the icebergs. FULL SPEED AHEAD! “