Maybe we are watching one of the best "3 card monte" games ever.
1. Timing of GM announcement was just days after Biden signs EO on Climate Change.
A new president took office this month determined to fight climate change. Wall Street investors think Tesla is worth more than General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen and Ford put together. And China, the world’s biggest car market, recently ordered that most new cars be powered by electricity in just 15 years.
Those large forces help explain the decision by G.M.’s chief executive, Mary T. Barra, that the company will aim to sell only zero-emission cars and trucks by 2035.
Her announcement, just a day after President Biden signed an executive order on climate change, blindsided rivals who usually seek to present a united message on emissions and other policy issues. But it was also years in the making. G.M. has had a love-hate relationship with electric cars going back decades, but under Ms. Barra, who took over in 2014, it has inched its way toward a full embrace of the technology.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/business/general-motors-electric-cars.htmlBut wait, let's look at GM Canada--
While a zero-emissions future is core to GM’s strategy — just this week it announced its global operations and vehicles will be carbon neutral by 2040 — pickup trucks now account for 40% of its sales in Canada, and the company can’t afford to ignore that market. The national devotion to big vehicles only gained strength during the pandemic, as consumers opted for hefty vehicles that could tow campers and boats on in-country vacations. Even as Ford and Chrysler Fiat announced their plans for consumer EVs, GM resurrected a largely shuttered plant in Oshawa, Ontario, pledging to return to building traditional Chevrolet Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks powered with internal combustion engines.
“We’re playing on both ends here,” Bell acknowledged, “but the end game is to get to 100% EV.” Still, boosting Canada’s EV penetration to 25% to 30% by the end of the decade would be “a big move,” Bell says, and it will likely take a further decade to reach full adoption.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-29/canada-s-ev-agenda-is-getting-supercharged-by-biden-ford-and-gm2. Tesla (larges EV manufacturer) loses money selling EV's; but rakes in big bucks selling "regulatory credits" to other car manufacturers.
Tesla posted its first full year of net income in 2020 — but not because of sales to its customers.
Eleven states require automakers sell a certain percentage of zero-emissions vehicles by 2025. If they can’t, the automakers have to buy regulatory credits from another automaker that meets those requirements — such as Tesla, which exclusively sells electric cars.
It’s a lucrative business for Tesla — bringing in $3.3 billion over the course of the last five years, nearly half of that in 2020 alone. The $1.6 billion in regulatory credits it received last year far outweighed Tesla’s net income of $721 million — meaning Tesla would have otherwise posted a net loss in 2020.
“These guys are losing money selling cars. They’re making money selling credits. And the credits are going away,” said Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research and one of the biggest bears on Tesla shares.https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/01/teslas-dirty-little-secret-its-net-profit-doesnt-come-from-selling-cars/3. As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation. $1.5 billion subsidy (taking money from my pocket and putting into yours) Newsom targeted for "transportation electrification", $500 million to fund EV purchases and $1 billion to build charging stations.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is putting his money where his mouth is when it comes to electrifying transportation. Following up on the ambitious executive order he issued last September, mandating that all new passenger vehicle sales in the state be zero emissions by 2035, Newsom is including $1.5 billion for transportation electrification in the $227.2 billion 2021-2022 budget he unveiled Friday.
The budget proposal includes $500 million in funding for low-income Californians to purchase cleaner vehicles, as well as funds to support the purchase of clean trucks, buses, and off-road freight equipment. It also earmarks $1 billion to build electric charging and hydrogen fueling stations between now and 2025. https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/environment/2021/01/08/california-will-invest--1-5-billion-to-electrify-transportation-as-part-of-2021-budgetMoral of the story:
All Executive Orders issued by a US Prez can be undone by his successor.
All "marketing plans" issued by a GM's CEO can be undone by her successor.
All monies spent by "governments" come from their taxpayers; taking money from my pocket and putting it into your pockets is simply "income/wealth redistribution".
FOLLOW THE MONEY!
