GM CEO Barra says electric vehicles to be profitable by 2025

General Motors says it expects its portfolio of electric vehicles to turn a profit in North America by 2025 as it boosts battery and assembly plant capacity to build over 1 million EVs per year.CEO Mary Barra used the pledge to kick off the company’s investor day event Thursday in New York.The profit figure includes vehicle sales revenue, benefits from emissions tax credits, and revenue from software and parts sales, she said. Barra said the company’s EV portfolio appeals to a broader range of customers than the competition. GM EV lineup includes plans to sell a small SUV for around $30,000, plus a luxury SUV, pickup trucks, and Hummer SUVs in the next two years.The Detroit automaker has a goal of selling only electric passenger vehicles by 2035.Next year, GM will roll out an all-electric version of the Chevrolet Corvette, President Mark Reuss said. ‘This will again set the standard of the world for performance,’ he said. Reuss gave glimpses of other new or revamped GM vehicles that are coming in the next two years. New internal combustion vehicles will be based on the existing underpinnings, saving costs, yet allowing the company to do significant upgrades, he said.Among the revamped or new entries next year are the Chevrolet Traverse three-row SUV, as well as a new Buick SUV, and a revamped Chevrolet Trax small SUV starting around $19,000.In 2024, GM will redo the three-row GMC Acadia SUV, making it more truck-like, Reuss said. Then it will revamp the internal combustion version of the Chevy Equinox small SUV in the biggest market segment in the world.For electric vehicles next year, GM will revive the Buick Electra name for a new SUV that will go on sale first in China, then in the U.S. Then comes the Cruise Origin, a multi-passenger vehicle built for the company’s ride-hailing service, and a Cadillac compact SUV. Among the 2024 EVs is the GMC Sierra full-size pickup., a full-size Cadillac SUV, and full-size Buick and Chevrolet electric cars mainly for China. Reuss also said GM is revamping the way customers buy electric vehicles, giving them the option of fully purchasing online or at the dealership and saving the company $2,000 per vehicle. Rather than dealers holding huge inventories, they would keep fewer vehicles on their lots. When a customer orders an EV, it would come from three distribution centers on the U.S. coasts. The centers, two in California and one in Georgia, would stock popular equipment combinations and allow deliveries in as little as four days, Reuss said.The system would automate a lot of financing and insurance costs. ‘This will translate into that $2,000 per unit in efficiencies and cost reductions for GM,’ he said.