General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Paul Jacobson: Yes. Good morning, Mark. So, what I would say is it’s a little bit of a step function, right? So, as we build a plant or transform a plant, we’ve got to fill that up to maximize efficiency, so the decision to defer Orion is really an example of not rushing to build that full infrastructure before we know that we can fill it up. So, ultimately it leads to more of an efficient transition. So, what I would say is we’ve got good capacity at the facilities that we’ve already transformed and we’re working to scale those to that capacity as quickly as we can. So, it remains a big part of it but I think you’re going to see a little bit of step changes through the transformation as we bring that incremental capacity online, but that’s part of our plans, it’s all rolled into the targets that we’ve outlined on our ability to hit the load of mid-single-digit margins on EVs in 2025 and then grow from there.

Mark Delaney: Thanks for that Paul. And then, on the international business, the company was profitable including in China, despite what’s been a difficult market backdrop. Can you speak in more detail on how you think the international market will progress from here? Thanks.

Mary Barra: Well, if we first start with the GMI market X China, again, we see a really strong improvement across all of the countries that we’re in from South America to the Middle East to Korea et cetera. We’re going to continue to focus on and the — one again it’s operating disciple. It’s also having the right products for those markets and understanding in some cases especially in markets like South America where we price for what’s happening from a current foreign currency exchange perspective. And we are seeing the products because of the strength of them hold up. So, very pleased with where the GMI markets are. And as you focus on China, China is still — we are looking for potentially a modest recovery continuing into Q4.

But the real focus for General Motors in China is to make sure we get our Ultium products out there from a Buick and a Cadillac perspective. And then, also focus on the right products from an SGM Wuling perspective. And then, remember we are also expanding for premium import. And we think those three initiatives are going to position us well even in uncertain market that we are facing in China that gives us a lot of optionality at the — I’ll say the entry level on value part of the market, the mid part of the market, and then at the top part of the market.

Mark Delaney: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to — back to Mary Barra for closing comments.

Mary Barra: Great. Well, thank you, Amanda. And thanks everybody for joining the call today. It’s clear that we are dealing with a lot of near-term uncertainty. And then, also the — I’ll say the transition that — to EVs that will have ups and downs. But I hope it’s equally clear that we are going to be acting with purpose. We are going to remain agile. And we are making sure we have a system that has the ability to respond to where the market is. And our commitment is to deliver a strong and profitable ICE business as well as a strong and profitable EV business for our future. In addition, I think if you look deeper into the organization that Mike Abbott has built from a software perspective, this is really foundational for us to be able to capture additional revenue with a very different margin profile than some of the aspects of the vehicle and the business that we have today.

And then, finally, we see tremendous opportunity with Cruise. And we’ll continue to work across not only this country working with our regulators to make sure we can deploy Cruise safely. I know the UAW contract is one of the biggest sources of uncertainty right now. But I want to remind you with what I said earlier, we will not agree to a contract that isn’t responsible for our employees and for our shareholders. We need to make sure we have a contract that is going to allow us to compete and win in what is a challenging market for EVs and also allows us to support the business that we have with strong margins in our ICE business. When we do reach an agreement, we will schedule an event shortly thereafter to discuss the economics and our strategy for managing them.

And as Paul said, we will host our next Investor Day in March to go even deeper into the ICE, EV, AV, and specifically our software plans. When you look at our growth businesses especially Cruise and software, we are at an inflection point right now. And see tremendous upside opportunity and growth. And so, we look forward to discussing each of them with you in more detail as we move forward. So, make no mistake, GM is very committed to all EV future. We are not changing any of our goals there. We are just trying to make sure the company is more agile and resilient so that we can be successful as we manage this transformation. So, want to thank you again for joining us. Thanks for your questions. And I hope everyone has a good day.

Operator: Thank you. That concludes the conference call for today. Thank you for joining.

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