General Motors (GM) is determined to win the race for electric vehicles. The giant from Detroit is currently lagging behind.
It is a far cry from Tesla (TSLA), the world leader in electric vehicles in terms of market share and sales. GM is also behind its eternal rival, Ford (F).
But the vehicle maker had a positive third quarter, selling a record 14,709 units of its first electric model, the Chevy Bolt EV and the Chevy Bolt EUV small SUV.
These quarterly sales, the best for the Chevy Bolt, pushed GM to boost its production targets, from approximately 44,000 vehicles in 2022 to more than 70,000 in 2023.
The company is, however, delayed in the production of the electric version of the iconic Hummer. The automaker will pause production of the pickup for several weeks to expedite upgrades for the electric Chevrolet Silverado.
Sales of the GMC Hummer EV, which went into production at the end of 2021, are not very encouraging. The vehicle, which has a base price of over $100,000, sold 411 units in the third quarter. Since its launch, GM has only managed to sell 782 units.
GM Will Suspend Ads on Twitter
It is not for lack of having done everything to promote this vehicle. CEO Mary Barra's group even enlisted global basketball star Lebron James to tout the GMC Hummer EV.
The GMC Hummer EV is one in a group of vehicles aggressively promoted by GM, which wants to dominate the electric vehicle sector in the coming years.
The Detroit group has announced billions of dollars in investment to better challenge Tesla. Part of this investment is dedicated to advertising.
However, GM has just made the decision to temporarily suspend its ads on the social network Twitter. The platform was officially acquired by Elon Musk on Oct. 27. The CEO of Tesla wrote a check for $44 billion to become the sole owner of the platform.
"We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership," David Caldwell, a GM spokesperson, said in an email statement. "As is normal course of business with a significant change in a media platform, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising."
He added: "Our customer care interactions on Twitter will continue."
GM thus becomes one of the first advertisers to withdraw its ads from a Musk-controlled Twitter. The company says it wants to see in which direction Musk wants to take the platform.
Wait-and-See
One of the biggest concerns of advertisers is what the content management policy will be.
The liberals fear the return of hateful, racist and bullying posts to the social network. They also fear the return of conspiracy theory advocates and the proliferation of misinformation given that Musk, who is a "free speech absolutist," believes that all opinions are welcome as long as they don't break the law.
The new CEO, however, toned down his stance in a message to advertisers on Oct. 27.
"Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!" he wrote to advertisers. "In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences, just as you can choose, for example, to see movies or play video games ranging from all ages to mature."
Nevertheless, many of the them remain cautious.
About a dozen advertisers asked ad-buyer GroupM to suspend their ads on Twitter in the event that Donald Trump's account was reactivated, according to the Wall Street Journal. Other Twitter clients have not yet committed to a course of action.
"That doesn’t mean that we won’t be entertaining lots of emails and phone calls as soon as a transaction goes through,” said Kieley Taylor, global head of partnerships for GroupM, via the Journal. "I anticipate we’ll be busy.”
Musk announced on Oct. 28 that he will form a council on content moderation. No decision will be made before this council meets. Basically, Musk wants to take his time. He wants to avoid any hasty decision.
"Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints," the billionaire posted on Twitter on Oct. 28.
He added that: "No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes."
