GM Q1 earnings: Net income down 2.7% to $2.9 billion as revenue rises 11% to $36 billion

DETROIT — General Motors on Tuesday reported first-quarter net income of $2.9 billion, a 2.7 percent decrease from a year earlier despite a double-digit revenue increase.

GM’s global earnings before interest and taxes declined 8.4 percent to $4 billion, while its North American profit equaled the $3.1 billion it earned in the first quarter of 2021. Global revenue rose 11 percent to nearly $36 billion.

CEO Mary Barra, in a letter to shareholders, reaffirmed the company’s 2022 adjusted earnings guidance of $13 billion to $15 billion. GM expects net income of $9.6 billion to $11.2 billion for the year.

“Our confidence is strong as we accelerate our transformation, even in the face of a challenging macro environment,” Barra said in the letter. “Our biggest growth opportunity in North America is in electric trucks. We’ve led the full-size pickup segment for two consecutive years, and we will lead the EV truck market as well.”

Chevrolet has logged about 140,000 reservations for the Silverado EV, set to launch next year, and continues to take additional reservations, she said. GMC has taken more than 70,000 reservations for the Hummer pickup and SUV combined.

GM plans to have 1 million units of EV capacity in North America by the end of 2025 and is targeting production of 400,000 EVs in this year and next year. The automaker aims to have an all-electric lineup by 2035.

Barra told reporters Tuesday that GM’s EV capacity is supported by early investments to build an EV value chain, along with the automaker’s proprietary Ultium battery platform.

GM will begin to consider EV volume, rollout timing and quality as it sets long-term compensation for executives, Barra said. The new measurement will be in GM’s 2021 proxy statement, which will be available Friday.

GM continues to work through the global microchip shortage, she said, and the automaker expects production this year to exceed 2021 production levels by 25-30 percent.

“We are working deep into the tiered supply base for chips to make sure that, to the extent that we can, we control our own destiny,” Barra said.