Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Benzinga
Benzinga
Business
Adam Eckert

GM Reveals Strong Demand For Silverado EV: How Do The Numbers Stack Up Against Ford, Tesla And Rivian?

General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) announced its quarterly financial results Tuesday, which were accompanied by reservation numbers for some of its most highly anticipated electric vehicles. 

"Strong demand is driving the acceleration of our EV manufacturing," according to the Detroit automaker. 

What To Know: GM delivered its first Hummer EV pickups to customers during the quarter and announced that it has 59,000 combined reservations for the pickup and SUV versions of its electric Hummer. 

"Customer reaction to the GMC HUMMER EV Pickup is overwhelming." Deliveries of the SUV version are expected to begin in the spring of 2023.

GM also began delivering its BrightDrop EV600 cargo vans to customers during the quarter. 

FedEx Corp (NYSE:FDX), Merchants Fleet and Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) are among the company's largest fleet customers "adopting BrightDrop’s electric vehicles and technology to make their delivery operations more efficient."

GM said it has more than 25,000 production reservations for its BrightDrop electric cargo vans. In order to meet demand, the company plans to start additional production at the CAMI plant in Ontario, Canada near the end of 2022.

Although demand is undoubtedly impressive for the aforementioned GM EVs, the company is seeing even more incredible demand for its next electric pickup truck, the Chevrolet Silverado EV.

The Ultium platform-based pickup has amassed more than 110,000 reservations since preorders became available less than a month ago. More than 240 fleet operators have already placed reservations for the Silverado EV, according to GM. 

Why It's Important: The Chevrolet Silverado EV will directly compete with other electric pickups being introduced to the market including Rivian Automotive Inc's (NASDAQ:RIVN) flagship R1T, Tesla Inc's (NASDAQ:TSLA) Cybertruck and Ford Motor Co's (NYSE:F) F-150 Lightning. 

See Also: Josh Brown Says The General Motors Story 'Entirely Hinges' On This Single EV Rollout

Ford announced in December that it had to stop taking reservations for the F-150 Lightning after receiving 200,000 preorders, which was beyond production capacity. 

"This year represents a turning point for Ford in electrified vehicles, as our electrified portfolio grew at nearly four times the rate of the industry segment, with E-Transit and F-150 Lightning set to hit the market," Ford said in a January sales update Wednesday morning. 

Tesla's Cybertruck also saw outsized demand when it was first announced, however it has been delayed multiple times and the company now anticipates that it will be ready for production "hopefully next year." Tesla's next-gen electric truck has reportedly received more than 1.2 million reservations. 

Rivian initially set a production target of 1,200 vehicles by the end of 2021, but came up "a few hundred vehicles short," per CEO RJ Scaringe. During the company's most recent earnings report, Rivian said reservations for its electric R1T pickup and R1S SUV totaled 71,000 on Dec. 15.

GM doesn't expect to begin delivering its Silverado EV until next year, with work truck models for fleet customers set to be first off the line in the spring of 2023.

GM Price Action: GM has traded as low as $47.07 and as high as $67.21 over a 52-week period.

Shares of the automaker were down 3.64% at $52.11 at time of publication.

Photo: courtesy of GM.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.