According to media reports, several C-suite leaders of large carmakers voiced fresh concerns about the growth of the electric vehicle market. The auto industry executives were also concerned about spending billions of dollars towards their electrification strategies.<\/p>\n
During General Motors’ third-quarter call, company CEO, Mary Barra announced that the carmaker will be abandoning both, its 100,000 EV target set for the second half of this year and the 400,000 unit during the first half of 2024.<\/p>\n
However, GM isn’t the only carmaker to roll back its EV targets, even Elon Musk recently announced that economic concerns could lead to waning vehicle demand. Mercedes-Benz is also having to offer discounts on its EVs worth several thousand dollars just to ensure they are passed on to customers.<\/p>\n
Reportedly, dealers are taking longer to sell EVs compared to their ICE counterparts as new car buyers are now focussing on cost, infrastructure challenges & lifestyle barriers before purchase.<\/p>\n
Honda also recently scrapped its plans to co-develop a sub $30,000 EV with GM. Toshihiro Mibe, CEO, Honda stated, “After studying this for a year, we decided that this would be difficult as a business, so at the moment we are ending development of an affordable EV.”<\/p>\n
Akio Toyoda, Chairman, Toyota Motors, who has long been skeptical of EVs, stated, “People are finally seeing reality.”<\/p>\n