SHOPSMART AUTOS – CUSTOMER INFORMATION – MAY 2, 2021 (PT.2)
GM ANNOUNCES TO END BUILDING GAS VEHICLES BY 2035 General Motors wants to end sales of gas and diesel engine vehicles by 2035 as part of a broader pledge to become carbon neutral by 2040. GM set the date as its target but hedged on a full commitment, describing the move as “an aspiration to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035.” It also joined the Business Ambition Pledge, a global agreement working to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. “General Motors is joining governments and companies around the globe working to establish a safer, greener and better world,” Mary Barra, GM’s chief executive, said in a statement Thursday. “We encourage others to follow suit and make a significant impact on our industry and on the economy as a whole.” Other car companies committed to the climate pledge include BMW, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Volvo. Several regions and nations plan to ban or limit new sales of new combustion engine vehicles including Norway by 2025, the United Kingdom by 2030 and California and Japan by 2035 andCalifornia 2035. The automaker already has launched into the transition and is spending $27 billion in electric vehicle and autonomous auto development between 2020 and 2025, more than its gas and diesel vehicle investment. GM’s initiative includes reconfiguring its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center in Michigan and a factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee, to build only electric vehicles. GM plans to launch 30 new global electric vehicles by 2025 and has said all of its autonomous cars will be on an electric architecture. Drivers operating GM’s vehicles account for 75% of its carbon emissions, the automaker said. GM has been leaning in this direction, but by making a broad policy commitment, it is signaling where it plans to make the largest investments, Mike Ramsey, automotive and smart mobility analyst at research firm Gartner Inc., told Forbes Wheels. “Think about the money that might have been committed to a new engine or transmission that would be expected to last 10 years,” Ramsey says. “I expect we will see almost no investment in the internal combustion engines from here on out except things that can be done incrementally or with software.” But GM also faces the challenge of convincing consumers to leap to an EV from a gasoline auto. Although sales grew 10% last year, Americans purchased just 260,000 battery-electric vehicles out of nearly 15 million light vehicles sold, according to MotorIntelligence. The Tesla Model 3 accounted for almost half of the EV sales volume. GM’s only electric car, the Chevrolet Bolt, logged sales of less than 21,000. “They will have to be creative and maybe do things they wouldn’t have in the past, like subsidize home chargers or even work directly with power companies or even solar installers,” Ramsey says. But among the legacy automakers, GM may be the best positioned to exit the internal combustion vehicle market, according to Gary Silberg, Global Automotive Sector Leader for KPMG, the international consulting and accounting firm. Its two primary markets are North America and China, regions where electric charging infrastructure is developing rapidly. GM leads the U.S. in auto sales with 17% of the market. “GM is clever,” Silberg says. “An all EV strategy could work for them.” Other automakers would face obstacles. “More than 4 billion people on the planet live in a region where they can’t plug in a car, and much of Southeast Asia doesn’t have the infrastructure available for EVs,” Silberg says. For example, Toyota is a big player in Indonesia and Asia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand, and is growing in India. GM said it is working with the Environmental Defense Fund to achieve its goals. “GM is making it crystal clear that taking action to eliminate pollution from all new light-duty vehicles by 2035 is an essential element of any automaker’s business plan,” said Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp.Tags: 2019 Subaru Forester Touring, 2020 BMW iX3, 2020 Chevrolet Suburban, 2020 dodge charger, 2020 EQC, 2020 Ford Super Duty, 2020 Honda Pilot, 2020 Kia Optima, 2020 Mercedes Benz, 2020 Nissan Versa, 2020 Subaru WRX STI, Audi SUV, BMW, Brandon K. Hardison, Chevrolet Car, Chevrolet Sonic, Dodge charger, electric vehicles, honda, Honda Pilot, Hyundai SUV, Mercedes Benz, Nissan Rogue, SUV, upcoming car, Volkswagen, Volkswagen Tiguan SEL Premium R-Line, Volvo Car
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