Following California’s recently introduced legislation that will ban the sale of new combustion engine vehicles by 2035, a barrage of automakers have taken the market signal as an ideal time to revamp and speed up their electrification plans.
Following California’s change in legislation, General Motors announced it has withdrawn from a lawsuit brought forth by the Trump administration, that challenges the state’s right to set its own emissions regulations. Given that California is one of GM’s largest markets, the state’s emission-reducing goals have instead ignited the automaker’s ambitions to align itself with greener policies, as well as get a head-start in the growing EV market.
As a result, GM recently announced that it will only sell zero-emission models by 2035, and make all of its global operations carbon neutral by 2040. The automaker plans to convert all of its models to either battery power of hydrogen in order to meet its target, as well as reduce the price on some of its models in order to establish a wider customer base.
GM’s latest plans of achieving complete carbon neutrality puts the company 10 years ahead of its rival counterpart, Ford’s goals. The company-wide carbon neutral initiative is also part of CEO Mary Marra’s wider strategy of surpassing Tesla’s dominance in the EV market. Barra has made a commitment of spending US$27 billion towards the production of 30 electric models before 2025. Following GM’s announcement, the company’s stock rose by nearly 8% on Thursday.
Information for this briefing was found via General Motors. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
