- GM's uninspiring fourth-quarter leads Toyota to take the US market crown
- As EV's dominate the production narrative; there's little room for shortcomings
- The news comes as Ford swoops in and doubles production capacity ahead of GM's truck launch
“Room To Improve” were the words Elon Musk used to summarise GM’s lackluster performance in the last quarter. As the automobile industry hones in on the electric market, it appears that certain shortcomings have led to the long-standing leading US automobile manufacturer to hand its crown to Toyota.
As the paradigm shifts, Toyota has become the first foreign company to lead the podium in the US vehicle market; but with such a monumental shift, investors must be vigilant to the factors that are driving current manufacturing numbers – of which EV’s are a prime catalyst.
The news on GM’s new position came at a similar time of the release of their new electric Chevrolet, which although caused buyers to push stock up around 7% on Tuesday; was somewhat overshadowed by Ford’s announcement to double production of the F-150 truck due to better than expected demand – pipping GM at the post in a bid to secure more market share.
The global semiconductor shortage hit GM with full force, and while Tesla continued to pump out seemingly endless vehicles, GM sold a disappointing 26 electric vehicles throughout the fourth quarter of 2021. At a time where numbers meet the vision, it’s critical for EV manufacturers to meet market expectations. Competition is rife between the big dogs; to see a company that has been leading the US vehicle market for around 90 years toppled from the top signals that the EV battle is already shifting the gears of a concrete market.
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