General Motors is of the firm belief that within the next decade (or so), it will be the industry leader for sales of electric vehicles. The company’s desire to announce its ambitions so boldly shows its awareness that other players in the industry are moving into higher gear in the domain.
Tesla, for one, has shown audacity and a fleetness of foot to revolutionize the way electric cars are perceived, and to gain a huge portion of the market as it exists today. While GM did manage to get its Bolt out on the market ahead of the California automaker’s Model 3, sales of the Bolt simply don’t compare to those of that model: lifetime sales of the Bolt total 36,000, while in the third quarter of 2018 alone, Tesla sold 56,000 units of the Model 3.
Then there’s Volkswagen, busily piling up the announcements regarding its ambitious plans for brining electric vehicles to market – the latest one coming just this week. At GM HQ, they are undoubtedly feeling the heat.
Hence this week’s announcement from the automaker that it has no intention of giving up the fight for electric-car dominance. The company even claims it can take over the alpha role… after it finishes playing catch-up.
"We do believe we'll lead the industry in EVs sometime in the next decade or so."
- GM VP of global strategy, Mike Ableson
The executive believes that the company has enough time to position itself as the reference in the emerging electric-vehicle market. At the same time, combustion-engine vehicles will still constitute the heart and soul of the company’s product offering for at least another two decades, even as the company admits that things are moving extremely quickly.
Asked if GM foresees producing an electric-powered pickup in order to take an early lead in North America’s most popular segment, Ableson nixed the idea.
It’s known that General Motors is working on an aggressive EV strategy, and that the automaker’s product range will be radically transformed.
From the twin declarations made by the rival execs at GM and VW, the battle for dominance will be interesting to watch. Meanwhile, Tesla continues to operate in a world apart in terms of consumer awareness, recognition and loyalty. When it comes to identifying which brand is, in 2018, most closely associated with electric vehicles, there’s only candidate. We’ll see where we are in 10 years…