General Motors’ goal of being capable of producing 1 million all-electric vehicles in North America by the end of 2025 in heavily in doubt, following comments Monday by CEO Mary Barra.
The production capacity target for next year was one of the last EV targets the automaker hadn’t lowered or withdrawn as demand for EVs has not materialized as quickly as many companies such as GM previously expected.
“We won’t get to a million just because the market is not developing, but it will get there,” Barra said Monday at a virtual CNBC CEO Council event. “We’re going to be guided by the customer.”
For more than two years, GM has said it would have production capacity of 1 million in EVs in each China and North America by 2025. Even after it changed or withdrew several EV targets and product plans in the last year, the company continued to say it would install the North American capacity for EVs.
A GM spokesman said the company’s target was about the production capacity, while the question was regarding actually producing 1 million EVs in 2025. Barra did not specifcally address whether it was production or production capacity that she was referring to.
The spokesman later said the company would no longer reiterate the EV production capacity plans for 2025. The company has continually said its EV plans will be flexible to meet demand.
More details about the automaker’s EV plans could come when GM reports second-quarter results on July 23.