Mary Barra leads what for now is one of the world’s most successful major automakers.
In a turbulent time for automakers as they awkwardly transition from gas-powered to electric vehicles (EVs), Barra’s General Motors stands out for its excellent financial performance and leadership in electric vehicles (EVs).
But like most automakers, CEO Barra is coping with a North American slump in EV sales growth. She’s also bracing for a trade war that U.S. President Donald Trump is set to launch.
GM was a stock-market darling last year, posting a 48 per cent increase in share value in 2024, more than double the gain in the S&P 500 Index.
But GM’s share price has dropped by 23 per cent since Trump’s election victory in November, to a current $46 (U.S.), on worries that the industry will be hard hit by Trump’s tariff and anti-EV policies.
Those policies could cause upheaval in a North American industry that is thoroughly integrated among Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
GM is especially vulnerable to a trade disruption, with an estimated one-third of its U.S. sales derived from vehicles produced in Mexico and Canada.
Trump wants to shift the Ontario auto sector to the U.S. And he dislikes EVs in his mistaken belief that they require less labour to build than gas-powered vehicles.
Some of Trump’s anti-EV policies will take time to enact. For instance, repealing a $7,500 tax credit for purchases of new EVs will require Congressional approval.
Detroit-based GM says it has made preparations for the Trump era.
Among Barra’s options is to relocate some GM vehicle assembly from Canada and Mexico to the U.S., where GM has spare manufacturing capacity.
Another, Barra said last month, is to redirect GM vehicles made in Canada and Mexico to markets other than the U.S.
Barra has made her case for an exemption from tariffs with the Trump administration and members of Congress. She argues that Canada and Mexico are partners with GM in “American leadership in advanced technologies.”
But the apparent Trump resolve on tariffs could see the average $25,000 price of cars imported to the U.S. from Mexico and Canada jump by about 25 per cent, or more than $6,000.
That includes the Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks made at GM’s Oshawa Assembly plant and BrightDrop electric delivery vans built in Ingersoll, Ont.
GM employs about 8,000 people in Canada, including hundreds of engineers at research centres in Oshawa and Markham, Ont.
The Holy Grail for automakers is to turn a profit on EVs, a goal that has proved elusive due to continued high battery and other input costs.
GM appears to be early in achieving that goal, recently reporting that in fiscal 2024 its revenue from EV sales exceeded variable costs such as labour and materials for the first time.
That doesn’t account for building or retooling assembly lines and other costs, but it’s a big step toward EV profitability.
Barra is a GM lifer who put herself through college working on a GM assembly line.
But she has broken through GM’s notorious insularity in recruiting outside executives from Apple, Tesla, Google and other tech firms.
They have contributed to EV breakthroughs, notably in improved batteries.
And with U.S. EV sales of 114,000 units last year, up 50 per cent from 2023, GM along with Hyundai Motor became the first automakers to cross the 100,000 annual sales threshold since Tesla.
“We doubled our EV market share as we scaled up production,” Barra told shareholders last month. GM now has almost 13 per cent of the U.S. EV market.
“And we’re targeting further improvements in EV profitability as we continue to scale,” she said.
Greater economies of scale reduce costs per vehicle and enable lower selling prices. GM plans to boost EV production to 300,000 units in 2025.
GM posted record pre-tax profits last year, excluding one-time items, of $14.9 billion.
Revenues increased by almost nine per cent to $187 billion on strong sales of GM’s lucrative SUVs and trucks.
GM boasts the industry’s widest range of EVs, and its Equinox EV and Cadillac Lyriq EV were among its strongest-selling models in 2024.
GM offers some the market’s most affordable EVs.
They include the Chev Equinox compact SUV (base price: $45,000 Canadian), the Chev Blazer mid-size SUV ($54,500) and a forthcoming reborn Chev Bolt subcompact.
GM is also expanding its lineup of EV trucks and upscale Cadillac EVs (Optiq and Vistiq).
EV industry critics haven’t forgiven Barra for killing the original entry level Bolt last year and pausing plug-in hybrid production until 2027.
Still, GM’s increase in EV sales last year “helped break the electric car out of the ‘high-end spaceship’ paradigm it’s been stuck in way too long,” said industry journal InsideEVs.
Given GM’s size and global reach, Barra’s success in reinventing GM as an advanced EV automaker will influence industry strategy far beyond Detroit.
