GM Kills Off Chevy Bolt EV, Puts Spotlight on Trucks

The Wall Street Journal reports GM Raises 2023 Profit Outlook, Kills Off Chevy Bolt EV

General Motors Co. GM raised its full-year profit outlook for the year, citing consumers’ willingness to spend big on high-end models, even as the Detroit auto maker tightens its own belt.

GM said it plans to end production of the Chevy Bolt at the year’s end, after troubles with battery fires and sluggish sales for the model that helped kick off the auto maker’s push into the technology.

GM’s decision to unplug the Bolt—while expected by analysts—ends a troubled run for the model, which had become a black eye for the car company after battery fires and costly recalls dented its early push into electric vehicles.

The small SUV, which was introduced in 2016, uses an older battery configuration that GM is retiring. GM said it would retool its Bolt factory to make electric pickup trucks.

GM to Retire the Chevy Bolt EV to Make Way for Electric Pickups

Bloomberg chimes in with GM to Retire the Chevy Bolt EV to Make Way for Electric Pickups

 General Motors Co. will end the seven-year run of the Chevrolet Bolt compact EV and its Bolt EUV stablemate as the company converts a plant in Orion, Michigan, to produce large electric trucks.

GM will make the move by year-end as the automaker reconfigures its sole Bolt plant to begin building battery-powered versions of its Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-sized pickups. 

Bolt owners are very loyal to GM, though some were turned off when the car was plagued by a rare defect that led to battery fires. That forced GM to recall every one of the 142,000 vehicles that were made. While owners waited for a new battery, they had to severely limit the charge on the battery and, as a result, how far they could drive.

GM Reaction to Raised Profit Outlook

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GM Daily Chart courtesy of StockCharts.Com, annotations by Mish

The market reaction to GM's increased profit guidance was a big thud. What a messy chart. Let's step back to a weekly view.

GM Weekly Chart 

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GM Weekly Chart courtesy of StockCharts.Com, annotations by Mish

Bear Flag

That's one hell of a bear flag and it appears to be breaking in the expected direction. 

GM will retool for electric trucks whether the market wants them or not. 

Tesla's electric truck is supposed to start delivery this summer. 

Tesla Cybertruck Now Coming Summer 2023, Volume Production in 2024

In January, MotorTrend reported Tesla Cybertruck Now Coming Summer 2023, Volume Production in 2024

If you are one of the many would-be Tesla Cybertruck buyers anxiously waiting for your pickup truck to be built, your patience is still a ways away from being rewarded. Production of the electric truck should begin this summer, but don't get too excited about the timing because the numbers will be small, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told investors on a call to report fourth-quarter 2022 earnings.

Early Models Are on the Road Now

In the above video from a couple of months ago Craig Fuller at Founder/CEO of FreightWaves, American Shipper chimes in with his take. 

In one clip of the video, musk promised delivery in 2019. The semi has finally arrived. 

Missing from the delivery announcement to Pepsi in December of 2022 were economics, a million mile guarantee, and autopilot announced in 2017.

Craig Fuller "The Tesla Semi to Pepsi, was actually a different sort of experience [to the 2017 hype]. It felt like they were dialing it in. They had promised these things and were going to deliver them but it just didn't feel like it had the hype that we had a couple years ago." 

The truck was supposed to have a 500-mile range at maximum weight at highway speeds. 

Fuller: "There are some initial reports that it cannot handle the weight or the distance that was initially promised. And so it's more of a wait and see."

Frito-Lay is a subsidiary of Pepsi. Fuller notes the weight difference between delivering potato chips and cans of pop. 

Pepsi is rumored to pay about $180,000 per vehicle. The current assumptions are the actual price will be double that of diesel. 

It's an interesting video. Inquiring minds will want to give it a play. 

Tesla TSLA Daily Chart 

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Tesla daily chart courtesy of StockCharts.Com, annotations by Mish

Tesla is a Technical Analysis Gap Lover's Paradise, What's Going On?

Technically speaking, Tesla has an active island reversal plus three open gaps on the daily chart. 

Cathie Wood has a $2,000 price target by 2027, 

I find Wood's target preposterous. For discussion, please see Tesla is a Technical Analysis Gap Lover's Paradise, What's Going On?

Like it or not, and despite cost differentials, electric vehicles are coming. Do we have the minerals? The infrastructure? 

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