General Motors reported monumental first-quarter results as the company looks set to lead the pack in new markets worth trillions of dollars. However, the road to the present enviable prospects began unceremoniously in 2014, when current CEO Mary Barra took over the organization during tumultuous times.
Barra trimmed down operational costs, exiting markets in Europe and Russia, and laid off over 64,000 workers. However, these moves, along with other equally drastic ones, have set the company up for exciting prospects in unprofitable markets and a possible all-electric transition before 2035. The company is poised to create colossal inroads in emerging markets like electric commercial vehicles, military defense, urban air mobility, and lots more.
“This is just the beginning for the next generation of General Motors,” Barra declared to investors Wednesday during GM’s first-quarter earnings call. “We are well on track with our plans to transform our company and lead the industry into the future.”
Altogether, the company’s innovation team has created growth plans for the company in over 20 new markets that could generate $1.3 trillion in fresh revenue streams.
“I think the most exciting thing and the reason why I’m here is we’re creating a company that doesn’t exist in the world, and frankly we’re creating an industry that doesn’t exist in the world, and we’re doing it for the sake of people on the planet,” said Alan Wexler, the company’s senior vice president of innovation and growth, during a video interview.
GM’s majority-owned autonomous vehicle outfit Cruise is set to dominate a market that could be worth $8 trillion in the near future. The company also has massive plans for urban air mobility, as it looks poised to lead the world into the future of flying cars and taxis, which will be worth more than $1 trillion in the mind 2030s.
The new growth plans also focus on several software and services which the company could use to shore up its revenues and end the boom and bust cycle that has characterized the auto industry. OnStar, the company’s decade-old connectivity brand, will be expanded to cater to insurance, vehicle logistics, and security services.
All these innovations revolve around the company’s ‘triple zero’ vision to “eliminate crashes, emissions, and congestions.”
