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☆ 5,000 GM salaried staff took buyouts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —About 5,000 General Motors white collar employees have taken buyouts, according to GM CFO Paul Jacobson. The buyouts were offered to all US salaried staff with at least five years at the company and international executives who had worked at GM at least two years. While it was a voluntary program, GM told its staff that “employees are strongly encouraged to consider the program.”“The voluntary program came in in line with our expectations,” Jacobson said. But while GM may avoid a widespread layoff, it did confirm in March that it cut a “few hundred” salaried staff “following our most recent performance calibration.”GM has 81,000 salaried employees worldwide, with 58,000 of those in the United States. GM (GM) is not the only automaker lowering staff numbers in a cost-cutting effort.

☆ Don't but an EV — lease one instead. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Why you might lease instead of ownMany buyers might opt to lease EVs as a way to drive electric but not fully commit to an expensive purchase — especially if they think battery technology will get better. While Teslas have always had a higher purchase rate, EV leasing overall took a tumble in 2022, according to Experian. Car buyers obviously wouldn't get the new EV purchase tax credit with a lease, but there is a sort of loophole. Lucid recently encouraged its customers to consider leasing in order to qualify for the commercial EV credit (for cars that are too expensive or don't otherwise qualify for the purchase credit). It's why companies like Tesla and Ford don't allow customers leasing their EVs to buy the vehicle once its lease contract is up.

☆ General Motors' China business is hurting, and it's not just because of Covid
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

He purchased his Nio over models from rival Chinese automakers Xpeng , Li Auto and IM Motors. GM's operations in the country are much larger than those of its crosstown rival Ford Motor, for example. Equity income from GM's Chinese operations and joint ventures has fallen 67% since its peak of more than $2 billion in 2014 and 2015. And the rising quality of domestic-made electric vehicles helped support — and tap — growing nationalistic pride among China's consumers. In February, Ford named Sam Wu, a former Whirlpool executive who joined the automaker in October, as president and chief executive of its China operations, starting March 1.

☆ General Motors cuts 500 salaried employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

DETROIT – General Motors is cutting hundreds of salaried positions as it follows other major companies, including competitors, in downsizing headcounts to preserve cash and boost profits. The cuts affect about 500 positions, according to a person familiar with the plans, which were announced internally Tuesday. The letter characterized the cuts, which follow performance evaluations, would impact a "small number of global executives and classified employees following our most recent performance calibration." The 500 job cuts make up less than 1% of GM's salaried workforce. Others such as Rivian Automotive also made salaried cuts, while Stellantis said it would idle a plant in Illinois.

☆ Thinking about an electric car? Leasing might actually be a good idea
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Automakers might want to lean on leasing EVs. A car owner might also get the commercial tax credit through leasing. While Teslas have always had a higher purchase rate, EV leasing overall took a tumble in 2022, according to Experian. Car buyers obviously wouldn't get the new EV purchase tax credit with a lease, but there is a sort of loophole. Lucid recently encouraged its customers to consider leasing in order to qualify for the commercial EV credit (for cars that are too expensive or don't otherwise qualify for the purchase credit).

☆ Finance Chiefs, Facing Another Year of Persistent Inflation, Prioritize Cost Savings
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Finance chiefs are pushing their companies to do more with less as they face another year of rising costs. Obviously, we’re dealing with a very unique environment right now with the unprecedented level of cost inflation. But we’re not in that environment right now. Ideally, we can grow as the demand environment hopefully normalizes. And that’s going to give us more optionality as we better understand our demand for AI over time.

Suppliers familiar with GM's production plans through 2025 support the notion the automaker continues to slow-walk electric vehicle investment and output while it continues to bank money from its big combustion-engine pickups and SUVs. GM on Tuesday stuck to its plan to produce a total of 400,000 electric vehicles for North America from 2022 through the first half of 2024. GM said it has secured all the battery materials it will need to build 1 million EVs a year in North America by 2025. In the short run, GM's go-slow approach could allow it to side-step the price war that Tesla launched earlier this month. The division has 90,000 reservations for the high-performance Hummer EVs and is sold out into next year, he said.

REUTERS/Charles PlatiauCHICAGO/DETROIT, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The companies that produce goods at the heart of the U.S. consumer economy - SUVs, washing machines, heavy equipment and hamburgers - kept rolling along at the end of 2022. Bellwethers including McDonald's (MCD.N), General Motors, Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), appliance maker Whirlpool (WHR.N) and delivery giant United Parcel Service (UPS.N), posted results that exceeded estimates. That's a good sign for the broader economy, according to Lori Calvasina, equity analyst at RBC Capital Markets. The economy's performance may depend on whether price pressures that have afflicted consumer and business spending start to wane. "As we go into 2023, there is going to continue to be inflation," said Christopher Kempczinski, McDonald's CEO, on the company's earnings call Tuesday.

☆ Don't expect price cuts on GM's $100,000 electric Hummer, despite EV discounts from Tesla and Ford
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tesla spurred an EV price war earlier this month, with price cuts to its most popular models. But GM said Tuesday it won’t make cuts to its electric vehicles. The automaker will not be responding to the latest price cuts from Tesla and Detroit-rival Ford by cutting prices for its own electric cars, chief financial officer Paul Jacobson said on a Tuesday media call ahead of GM's fourth quarter earnings call. Facing weakening demand, Tesla slashed the prices of some of its most popular models earlier this month. GM CEO Mary Barra said Tuesday she is confident the company is well-positioned with its current EV prices.

☆ GM smashes expectations and guides toward a strong 2023, despite margin squeeze
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Shares of GM rallied as much as 9.5% during trading Tuesday before closing at $39.32 a share, up by 8.4%. GM's net income slipped last year, down by less than 1% from full-year 2021 to $9.9 billion, with a profit margin that was off 1.6 percentage points to 6.3%. 2023 guidanceFor 2023, GM expects net income attributable to stockholders of between $8.7 billion and $10.1 billion. It expects adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of $10.5 billion to $12.5 billion and adjusted earnings per share of between $6 and $7. Following recent price cuts for Tesla vehicles and Ford's Mustang Mach-E crossover, Jacobson said GM feels its EVs "are well positioned" with pricing.

Some elements of the Jeep joint venture's failure are particular to Stellantis - and the former car groups that feature among its 14 brands. But data compiled for Reuters by consultancy LMC Automotive expose a problem shared by a number of other global carmakers: plummeting Chinese plant usage. Reuters GraphicsThe Jeep failure in China happened less than two years after Stellantis was formed by the merger of PSA and Fiat Chrysler. "Chinese companies actually have an early mover advantage because they embraced electrification faster than the foreign companies were willing to," he added. While fully-electric cars make up an average of 5% of models foreign carmakers sell in China, they account for 30% of Chinese carmakers' models, according to LMC data.

☆ Zero-Based Budgeting, Currency Hedges Among the Tools CFOs Can Use to Weather Headwinds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Nina Trentmann | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

One area to which finance chiefs scouting for efficiencies have turned is zero-based budgeting, a tool that gained popularity early in the pandemic and requires finance executives to question and justify each line item in every new budget period. Reese’s peanut-butter cup maker Hershey Co., based in Pennsylvania, regularly goes through every line of its profit and loss statement, Finance Chief Steve Voskuil said. Detroit-based General Motors Co. is slowing and in some areas even freezing hiring, and homing in on other fixed costs, Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson has said. Facing high inflation and an uncertain outlook, finance chiefs are using zero-based budgeting to lower expenses in areas including operations, real estate, logistics, sales and marketing. Finance executives at large U.S. companies, including Coca-Cola Co. and materials-science company Dow Inc., are increasing their foreign-currency hedges and covering longer time periods.

☆ Chrysler parent Stellantis offering U.S. salaried buyouts
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Chrysler parent company Stellantis NV (STLA.MI) said Friday it has offered voluntary buyouts to some of its 13,000 U.S. salaried employees. Salaried workers age 55 or older who have been with the automaker at least 10 years are eligible. 2 U.S. automker had too many people, and that not enough of its workforce had the skills required as the auto industry shifts to electric vehicles and digital services. Earlier this year the Detroit automaker said it was slowing hiring and only replacing key departures or critical needs. Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Diane CraftOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Chrysler and Jeep parent Stellantis offering buyouts to some U.S. salaried employees
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

- Newly-created European carmaker Stellantis motored its way January 18, 2021 onto the Paris and Milan stock exchanges. Stellantis -- created by the merger of France's PSA and US-Italian rival Fiat Chrysler -- is the world's fourth-biggest automaker by volume. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP) (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)DETROIT – Jeep and Chrysler parent company Stellantis is offering buyouts to some of its 13,000 U.S. salaried employees, as the automaker attempts to cut jobs and realign its workforce for electric vehicles and software services. A Stellantis spokeswoman declined to say how many domestic salaried employees are eligible for the program, or whether the automaker has a target for how many workers it would like to take the packages. The automaker, which was formed by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France-based Groupe PSA in January 2021, offered similar buyouts a year ago to pension-eligible employees.

☆ Auto dealer stocks rally despite Wall Street's 'demand destruction' theory
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Vehicles are displayed for sale at an AutoNation car dealership on April 21, 2022 in Valencia, California. DETROIT – Shares of AutoNation , Group 1 Automotive and other automotive dealers rallied Thursday following strong third-quarter earnings and optimistic outlooks regarding consumer demand for new vehicles. "Clearly, there is some normalization that's going to occur and has occurred," Group 1 CEO Earl Hesterberg told investors after the company beat Wall Street's expectations on Wednesday. Shares of AutoNation were up by as much as 8.2% after the company beat Wall Street's estimates on Thursday. Pricing remains strong, demand remains strong for our products, but we can't ignore what others are saying out there and what others are seeing out there," GM CFO Paul Jacobson told reporters Tuesday after reporting strong third-quarter earnings.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a research note called the results a "major step in the right direction for the Detroit stalwart." GM reaffirmed its guidance for full-year net income of $9.6 billion to $11.2 billion, and full-year diluted earnings per share of $5.76 to $6.76. The automaker reported net income of $3.3 billion, compared with $2.4 billion a year earlier. The automaker said higher volume in the quarter drove a $5-billion gain, with higher prices contributing a $2.1 billion gain, offset by $3.6 billion in additional logistics costs. GM's China income climbed to $330 million, compared with $270 million a year earlier.

☆ GM earnings soar on improved supply chain issues
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —General Motors says its supply chain issues are improving. “We’re delivering on our commitments and affirming our full-year guidance despite a challenging environment, because demand continues to be strong for GM products,” said GM CEO Mary Barra. But Jacobson said the company is seeing no sign of a drop in demand that might accompany an economic slowdown. We continue to see the strong demand. Shares of GM (GM) rose 3% in premarket trading on the strong earnings and full-year earnings guidance of $6.50 and $7.50 a share, which gives it a solid chance to beat forecasts of $6.78 a share.

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