A strong Q4 report and new investments have GM on the right track.

This morning, the largest automotive company in the United States, General Motors, released its fourth-quarter profit report. For Q4, GM brought in earnings of approximately $3 billion, raising the value of its shares by nearly a full dollar to $2.12 each, a substantial increase over the mere 30 cent rise that was anticipated. This impressive showing also increased overall yearly income for 2022 to $11 billion, beating out the previous income record of $10.4 billion set in 2021.

General Motors invests $650mn in US lithium mine to secure EV battery materials https://t.co/8GsPQ62hnp

— FT for Schools (@ft4s) January 31, 2023

General Motors CFO Paul Jacobson is optimistic about the state of the automotive industry for 2023. If the company takes any substantial hits, he expects them to be mostly centralized around GM Financial due to higher interest rates.

“Actually that [guidance] is a strong statement about where we see things going, stronger than others,” Jacobson said in a press call this morning.

One of the major contributors to GM’s fresh success is the recent closure of a deal to purchase a $650 million in mining company Lithium Americas. This stake will give GM priority access to lithium resources, which in turn will help to expedite the production of electric vehicles. Interestingly, unlike some of the other major players in the EV scene like Tesla, Jacobson said that GM isn’t planning on slashing prices on its EV offerings.

General Motors and Lithium Americas to develop U.S.-sourced lithium production through $650 million equity investment and supply agreement for Thacker Pass https://t.co/yLXcmG2KvJ@GM $LAC #Nevada #lithium #EV #IRA pic.twitter.com/sruq63fNGm

— Lithium Americas (@LithiumAmericas) January 31, 2023

“I don’t think there’s any surprise there’s increasing competition in the EV space,” he said. “Our customers are saying we’re priced well based on the demand that we’re seeing.”

GM is only planning on constructing around 70,000 EVs this year, but are hoping to increase that projection to 400,000 EVs in 2024, followed by 1 million in 2025.