General Motors expects double-digit sales growth on Middle East and Africa this year
15 February, 2021
General Motors intends to attain double-digit growth in product sales across the Middle East and Africa, with the aid of its first electric sports utility vehicle going to the market.
The Detroit car maker will get started deliveries of the brand new vehicle, the 2022 Bolt EUV, from September this season, an executive told The National.
“We have strategies to electrify the regional auto industry ... Looking at the robust demand [and] growing appetite, we happen to be launching the Bolt EUV in this article,” explained Luay Al Shurafa, president and taking care of director of GM Africa and the Middle East.
Ideas for the Bolt EUV were announced yesterday, construction on the company’s push to launch a power Hummer in your community next year.
The company may also try to make its OnStar technology available across its Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC brands in four Gulf marketplaces in the coming months.
OnStar is a registration service that provides communications, secureness, navigation and diagnostics providers.
“OnStar is a good game-changing technology which will enhance the users’ overall driving knowledge,” said Mr Al Shurafa.
GM, which previous month celebrated the sale of its two-millionth automobile in your community since 2000, unveiled its first electric car - the Bolt EV - in the Middle East in 2017.
It could run for more than 520 kilometres on a single charge.
GM said in November that it could invest $27 billion in all-electric and self-driving automobiles through to 2025, an rise around $7bn or 35 %, on initial ideas announced in March last year.
The largest US car maker by unit sales intends release a 30 new electric vehicle models all over the world over another five years.
“People are trying electric vehicles around the globe but nonetheless there is do the job to be achieved,” said Mr Al Shurafa.
Growth will be driven by a wider selection of vehicles, lower rates and longer ranges.
“GM is working to provide the required ecosystems for the development [of electric vehicles]. Among the significant enablers is raising the range and availability ... the second enabler is to overcome the number anxiety,” he said.
Range anxiety may be the fear a vehicle might not have enough electric power to reach a specific destination.
Mr Al Shurafa urged car manufacturers to utilize governments to overcome such anxiety by increasing the amount of charging stations.
“[The] UAE is at the forefront of building the infrastructure and latest announcements are also via Saudi Arabia," he explained.
"There will get a time when it'll grow faster than today ... we consider [a] complete future of all-electric is just about the corner nonetheless it will probably change from one country to another.”
GM this past year unveiled its proprietary Ultium batteries to reduce the price tag on electric automobiles and enhance their performance.
Ultium batteries have got large-format, pouch-style cells which can be stacked vertically or horizontally in the battery pack.
This allows engineers to optimise battery energy storage and allows a range as high as 645 kilometres on a complete charge.
“The Ultium platform will certainly reduce the cost of the existing Bolt by about 60 per cent and it will double the performance of the batteries,” said Mr Al Shurafa.
“Cost is a significant component, and we see the expense of the batteries continuing to decline, making vehicles less expensive for customers in the approaching years. Our approach is pretty inclusive ... we believe that everyone will be able to afford an EV in future.”
Mr Al Shurafa said ongoing electrification initiatives will raise the company’s equilibrium sheet in the region.
While he did not disclose specific numbers regarding regional sales, 2020 financial accounts filed the other day showed that GM sold more than 3.4 million vehicles in Africa, the Asia-Pacific location and the Middle East last year, supplying it an 8 % market share.
Globally, the company’s net profit to shareholders fell by 4.5 % from a year earlier to $6.4bn after earnings dropped by 10.7 per cent to $122.48bn.
GM had to suspend development for quite a while last year therefore of the pandemic.
Business found as the entire year progressed and the company reported a 21 per cent quarterly increase in earnings found in Africa and the center East in the 90 days to December 31.
Saudi Arabia, the Gulf region’s most important economy, was GM’s major Middle East market last year, responsible for about half of its sales. It was accompanied by the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar.
“Saudi Arabia, from a business viewpoint, is way downwards from its highest [level] back in 2015,” said Mr Al Shurafa.
“Currently, generally there is optimism on the market. Oil prices have started to climb plus they have immediate correlation with the automobile industry.”
Despite market headwinds due to the pandemic in 2020, GM said it preserved a strong commercial position.
In the SUV segment, its models offer in the very best five across its three biggest regional market segments. Sales were driven by crucial launches like the Chevrolet Captiva.
GM also bolstered its situation after it released the latest types of the Chevrolet Tahoe, the GMC Yukon and the Cadillac Escalade this past year.
“Just 60 days after launch, the product sales figures are strong, with demand for all three vehicles outstripping source,” explained Sajed Sbeih, managing director for commercial businesses found in Africa and the center East.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com
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