General Motors (GM) has a plan to catch Tesla and sell 1 million electric vehicles by 2025, but based on its current pace, the company has a lot of ground to make up.
GM announced Tuesday is investing $7 billion in four Michigan manufacturing plants as part of the car maker's plan to transform its output into an electric vehicle fleet as the company looks to keep up with rival Tesla (TSLA).
But after the company delivered just 26 electric vehicles in the fourth quarter, GM has a long way to go to convince investors that it can catchup to its rivals.
Tesla says it delivered nearly a million electric vehicles worldwide in 2021, including 308,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter.
Tesla currently has a 56% market share, which while impressive, is down from its nearly 80% market share in 2020, according to analytics firm IHS Markit.
GM's Investment in Michigan
The Detroit, Michigan-based company says its investment will create 4,000 new jobs and retain 1,000 others while "significantly increasing" battery cell and electric truck manufacturing capacity.
"Today we are taking the next step in our continuous work to establish GM’s EV leadership by making investments in our vertically integrated battery production in the U.S., and our North American EV production capacity,” GM CEO Mary Barra said.
GM will invest $4 billion to convert its assembly plant in Orion Township, Michigan. to produce electric trucks. The investment is expected to create more than 2,350 new jobs at Orion and retain about 1,000 current jobs once the plant is fully operational.
In December, the company said it intends to spend over $3 billion to manufacture EVs as it looks to become the EV market leader in North America by 2025.
Time will tell whether GM will be able to "absolutely" catch Tesla in EV sales by 2025 as has been promised by Barra.
GM Playing Catchup With Tesla, Ford
GM is at a crossroads as Japanese carmaker Toyota (TM) has surpassed the company as the United States' biggest auto, knocking GM from the top spot for the first time in 90 years.
Toyota sold 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. in 2021, a 10.4% year over year increase, topping the 2.2 million vehicles sold by GM as the company saw a 13% decline in sales.
The company is also behind domestic rivals Tesla and Ford F in selling electric vehicles in the U.S. Last month Ford said it had to stop taking reservations for the F-150 because interest in the vehicle was so great.
Ford became number 2 for electric vehicle sales in 2021, led by its Mustang Mach-E, which sold 27,140 vehicles in 2021, making it the nation's second-best selling full electric SUV behind Tesla's Model Y.
GM currently only sells two electric vehicles in the U.S., the Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV.
Earlier this month, the GM introduced an electric Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck.
