General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders June 13, 2022 2:00 PM ET
Company Participants
Mary Barra – Chair and Chief Executive Officer
Jim Glynn – Vice President, Global Workplace Safety
Aneel Bhusri – Chairman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Workday
Wes Bush – Retired Chairman of Northrop Grumman Corporation
Linda Gooden – Retired Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin Corporation
Joe Jimenez – Retired CEO, Novartis AG
Judy Miscik – CEO and Vice Chair of Kissinger Associates
Pat Russo – Chairman Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company
Tom Schoewe – Retired Executive Vice President and CFO Wal-Mart
Carol Stephenson – Retired Dean Ivy Business School, The University of Western Ontario
Mark Tatum – Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer of NBA
Devin Wenig – Former President and CEO of eBay
Meg Whitman – Retired President and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Peter Descovich – Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inspector of Elections
Craig Glidden – Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
John Chevedden – Common Shareholder
John Lauve – Common Shareholder
Paul Chesser – Director of Corporate Integrity Project for National Legal and Policy Center
Conference Call Participants
Timothy Smith – Boston Trust Walden
Mary Barra
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening. And welcome to General Motors 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. We are delighted to have you participate today. I am Mary Barra, Chair and CEO of General Motors, and I will share today’s meeting. I now call this meeting to order.
I would like to start this meeting the way we start all of our Board and Committee meetings with the safety learning. I’m pleased to invite Jim Glynn, our Vice President for Global Workplace Safety to share the safety learning with all of you today. Jim will be retiring this fall after a remarkable 40 year career at General Motors.
Jim has worked in eight plants with diverse manufacturing, operations including forging, die casting, machining, stamping and vehicle assembly, and he has held plant leadership roles in Flint Assembly, Flint Stamping and Grand Blanc Stamping. We will all miss Jim, but we wish him the very best in his retirement.
Jim Glynn
Hi, everyone. I’m Jim Glynn, Vice President of Global Workplace Safety. And for today’s safety message, I’d like to talk a bit about distracted driving. Distracted driving has become one of the most dangerous behaviors we encounter on the road today. Nine people are killed every day in the United States in crashes involving a distracted driver.
As we head into the deadliest driving lines, I wanted to take the opportunity to remind everyone participating in our meeting today that taking simple steps to minimize distraction while driving can save a life. Texting in driving increases the risk of a crash by six times. Taking your eyes off the road while driving 55 miles an hour for even 5 seconds is like driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed. Please take the time to minimize distractions before you get going.
Here are a few simple steps you can take to be safe. Set your navigation before you start driving, enable your cell-phones’ do not disturb, feature and speak up, if you’re a passenger with a driver, who’s texting while operating a vehicle. Distracted driving is more than just phone use [indiscernible]. Emotional distress can increase the risk of a crash by nearly 10 times. Pull over, if you need time to regroup and models responsible driving for young drivers.
GM has incorporated technology in our vehicles that help drivers to focus on driving like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which are available in most 2022 GM vehicles. They enable hands free navigation and other commonly used apps, so you don’t have to touch your phone. We are also committed to eliminating distracted driving through our advocacy efforts. It will take every driver and every passenger’s commitment to eliminate the fatal impact of distracted driving. Please commit to focusing on the drive. Keep your eyes up, phones down and your seatbelts fastened.
Thank you and enjoy today’s meeting.
Mary Barra
Before I introduce my fellow Board members, I would like to recognize Jane Mendillo, who is retiring and thus not standing for reelection this year. On behalf of the entire Board, I would like to thank Jane for her invaluable service and many contributions over the years, particularly her insights that helped to oversee our capital allocation strategy and acceleration of the Company’s EV portfolio. It has been a pleasure to work with Jane.
It is the top priority in the Board and the Governance and Corporate Responsibility Committee to ensure that GM continues to have a Board that is composed of directors, who bring diverse viewpoint, possess a variety of skills, professional experiences and backgrounds, and effectively represent the long-term interest of shareholders.
Let me first introduce our newest director, Aneel Bhusri, Chairman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Workday, who was added to the Board last fall as part of our comprehensive refreshment and recruitment process. Aneel’s considerable expertise in software and technology as well as his experience as a venture capitalist is a tremendous asset to the Company as we grow our business and invest in technologies and services that are enabling us to lead in the future of mobility.
I would now like to introduce the rest of the Board. Wes Bush, Retired Chairman of Northrop Grumman Corporation; Linda Gooden, Retired Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin Corporation; Joe Jimenez, Retired CEO, Novartis AG; Judy Miscik, CEO and Vice Chair of Kissinger Associates; Pat Russo, Chairman Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company; Tom Schoewe, Retired Executive Vice President and CFO Wal-Mart; Carol Stephenson, Retired Dean Ivy Business School, The University of Western Ontario; Mark Tatum, Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer of NBA; Devin Wenig, former President and CEO of eBay; and Meg Whitman, Retired President and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
Also joining us remotely are members of GM’s senior leadership team, representatives of our independent auditor Ernst & Young LLP and Peter Descovich, Broadridge Financial Solutions who will serve as the Inspector of Elections.
And now, I am pleased to turn the meeting over to Craig Glidden, GM’s Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary to conduct the official portion of this meeting. Craig?
Craig Glidden
Thank you, Mary. Before I turn to the legal requirements, let me review the process for the question-and-answer session that will follow our formal portion of the meeting in Mary’s business presentation. If you are a shareholder entitled to vote you may submit a question at any time during the meeting by typing it into the Ask a Question field on your screen and click for Submit. Alternatively, you can call 1-877-328-2502. [Operator Instructions] I repeat that number is 1-877-328-2502.
We will answer a selection of written questions submitted online as well as field live questions from the phone. After the meeting, we will post answers to questions that we received and did not have time to address on our Investor Relations website at investor.gm.com. The meeting agenda lists all items of business to be considered including the election of directors. On behalf of the Board, I now move these items of business and nominate the Board’s nominees for election. Mary Barra, who acts as a proxy for all shares that have been voted thus far seconds this motion.
Next, I would like to remind you of certain procedural matters related to today’s meeting. First, this meeting is being held pursuant to a notice dated April 29, 2022. On or about that date, each shareholder of record as of the close of business on April 19, 2022 was sent either a notice of Internet availability of proxy materials or the proxy materials themselves, and affidavit of mailing these materials have been filed with the Company’s records.
Second, based on information from the Inspector of Elections, Broadridge Financial Solutions 1.2 billion shares constituting 84% of GM’s outstanding common stock are representative to me in person or by proxy. Accordingly, we have the required forum to proceed with the meeting. Third, the polls are open for voting online during the meeting.
All shareholders entitled to vote at this meeting may do so by clicking the vote here button at the bottom of your screen. The polls will remain open until we have concluded the official portion of the meeting. Since the items of business and nominations have been moved and seconded, and the requirements for holding today’s meeting have been met, I declare that the meeting has been duly convened and may be adjourned at anytime, if necessary.
The agenda along with the rules of conduct are also available for download by clicking the links on the bottom right corner of your screen. The rules of conduct contain a legend regarding forward-looking statements and the content of today’s meeting will be governed by this language.
If we discuss non-GAAP financial measures in today’s presentations are reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measures provided in our SEC filings, which are available on our website at gm.com. We are committed to holding an annual these allows for a respectful exchange of information that’s useful to everyone. We appreciate your cooperation for making this happen. Mary?
Mary Barra
Thank you, Craig. As the agenda outlines, we have six items of business on the ballot for today’s meeting. Following the conclusion of the official portion of the meeting and our business updates, we will hold a question-and-answer session.
The first item of business is the election of 12 directors. Each year, shareholders elect the Board to serve for the coming year or until their successors elected. Your board has nominated the 12 director nominees I introduced earlier who have been identified in our proxy statement. You can read a short biography of each of the nominees in our proxy statement. Your board unanimously recommends a vote for all of the director nominees.
The second item of business is an advisory vote on the compensation of our named executive officers identified in our proxy statement. You can read more about the compensation of these individuals in our compensation programs and our proxy statement. Your board recommends that shareholders vote for this proposal.
The third item of business is a proposal to ratify the audit committee selection of Ernst & Young as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for 2022. You can read more about this proposal including the audit fees and services and the audit committees preapproval policies and procedures in our proxy statements. Your board recommends that shareholders vote for this proposal.
Item four on our agenda is a shareholder proposal to lower the ownership threshold to call a special meeting. I understand that John Chevedden will present the proposal. He will have three minutes to do so.
Operators, can you please open Mr. Chevedden’s line.
Operator
Mr. Chevedden, your line is now open.
John Chevedden
Hello, this is John Chevedden. Can you hear me okay?
Mary Barra
Yes, we can.
John Chevedden
Proposal 4 – Special Shareholder Meeting Improvement. Shareholders ask our board to take the steps necessary to amend the governing documents to give the owners of a combined 10% of our outstanding common stock the power to call a special shareholder meeting.
Currently there is a face value of 25% of shares that can call a special shareholder meeting and it then goes downhill. 25% of shares equal 32% of shares that vote at the annual meeting. It would be hopeless to think that the shares that do not have the time to vote at the annual meeting would have the time to take the special procedural steps to call for a special shareholder meeting
A realistic 32% stock ownership threshold to call a special shareholder meeting is not much for management to brag about especially when we have no right to act by written consent.
GM shareholders gave 49% support for a shareholder right to act by written consent one year ago today. This 49% vote most likely represented close to a 60% vote from the shares that have access to independent proxy voting advice.
Although GM brags about its purported shareholder engagement and outreach, there is no record of any GM attempt to see if the 49% vote represented more than 50% of the shares that have access to independent proxy voting advice. This would be a useful question for a legitimate shareholder engagement program.
A reasonable shareholder right to call for a special shareholder meeting can elect a new Director or a new Lead Director. Ms. Patricia Russo, GM Lead Director, was the director who received the most negative votes at the 2021 GM annual meeting.
Ms. Russo’s position as Lead Director raises the question of whether a person who is a Former CEO should be disqualified from being a Lead Director. Ms. Russo was a failed CEO at Alcatel-Lucent, which could give her exceptional tolerance, if Ms. Barra should lapse into failure mode. A Lead Director who was a CEO would seem to have a special collegial bond with a fellow CEO at GM that would make independent oversight a challenge.
People who have served in the same profession tend to stick together against outsiders. Ms. Barra and Ms. Russo were also photographed next to each other off-duty at a Breakfast of Corporate Champions event. And GM is now committed to a fair election today. GM has gone to the corporate war chest for a special advertisement against shareholder propose under consider patient today in spite of GM bragging about its reported shareholder engagement and outreach in today’s meeting materials.
Thus, GM is in favor of a brand of shareholder engagement that merely serves as a crutch for the GM party line. Any company that brags about shareholder engagement should have the minimum ethics did not advertise against proposals by shareholders.
Please vote, yes: Special Shareholder Meeting Improvement – Proposal 4, and I’ve been authorized to present Mr. Lauve’s proposal in the event that there is a technical malfunction. Thank you.
Mary Barra
Thank you, Mr. Chevedden for the reasons indicated in our proxy statement, your board recommends that shareholders vote against this proposal.
Item five on our agenda is a shareholder proposal to separate the roles of Chair and CEO. I understand that John Lauve will present this proposal. Mr. Lauve, you will have three minutes to do so.
Operator, can you please open Mr. Lauve’s line?
Operator
Mr. Lauve your line is now open.
John Lauve
Thank you. Why is this proposal meritorious? Currently, Mary Barra has three jobs. One of them is the Director at Disney and they got big problems there because they got into a fight with Florida’s Governor. And now, we have to do damage control and she is going to be occupied with that project that distracts from General Motors interests.
Being the Board Chairman, just means that she meets with these lapdogs that allow her to continue to do have this kind of distraction from what’s meritorious for GM. And here’s the fact, GM lost the car segment to the foreign competition. They can do the same, somehow to the truck sector as well, but these things have been continually dismissed these threats.
And the system isn’t looking out for the stockowners and the directors are — they keep their life to them cars and don’t raise any kind of questions that need to be raised. For example, number one should be the relationship with our dealers and we don’t listen to them, and accept their respect their concerns, the Cruise is a classic example.
That car was dumped because of mismanagement of that asset. All the tools have been paid for they could have run that for a lot lower and kept in a vehicle that would draw in people to the dealers. And I spoke with them and this was a universal complaint with the management of General Motors.
I want this to be a successful company and the way we’re going is leading that way. And look at what we’ve gotten out, we’ve got the gas problem. If we had the Cruise, we could be in this market and have an alternative at dealerships. That’s where we’re at. So I would hope that people that have an interest in the stockholders wouldn’t look ahead at what needs to be done to broaden the support for the assets that we have. It’s just a shame to see this thing continue to erode away.
We’re on Toyota, somehow I have the inside ability to take over the market here. And we’re not succeeding. So, this proposal would be a method of expressing it to the people that are responsible. Thank you.
Mary Barra
Thank you, Mr. Lauve. For the reasons indicated in our proxy statement, your board recommends that shareholders vote against this proposal.
I have six on our agenda is a shareholder proposal requesting a report on the use of child labor in connection with electric vehicles. I understand that Paul Chesser will present this proposal. Mr. Chesser will have three minutes to do so.
Operator, can you please open Mr. Chesser’s line?
Operator
Mr. Chesser your line is open.
Paul Chesser
I’m Paul Chesser, Director of the Corporate Integrity Project for National Legal and Policy Center. I in my organization have questioned the wisdom of General Motors aggressive pursuit of electric vehicles since the early 2010 when Chevrolet introduced the non-viable electric Volt.
Even with the benefit of millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies, Chevy could not make the Volt popular. Now there’s renewed fanaticism for electric vehicles from corporate management, the corporate media, and the failed Biden administration. But EVs are no more viable now than they were 10 years ago despite the appearance.
The only reason they have incrementally gained any popularity is because of the Biden administration’s attacks on the oil and gas industry. Any product can gain popularity when the government inflicts blow after blow against its primary competition. As a viral video from 10 years ago stated, “If I wanted America to fail, I’d make cheap energy expensive, so that expensive energy would seem cheap.”
Government is also making this happen by delivering millions of dollars in subsidies for EV charging infrastructure and battery manufacturing among other market distortions. Americans are furious with this policy especially every time they refill at the gas pump. Whether you acknowledge it or not, GM is complicit in this disastrous policy that this unpopular administration dismisses as an energy transition.
The way they dismissed our current inflation was as transitory just a few months ago, just as the administration in the Fed missed the obvious telltale signs of a longer term problem so also is GM’s leadership missing the big picture on EVs in exchange for a short-term benefit, which will come at the expense of shareholders.
Almost certainly you will see a very different looking less EV friendly Congress come November. In fact, you will likely see great hostility towards the so called energy transition. GM may get away with some minimal benefit now, but what you may gain in short-term market share, your propaganda will lose long-term.
For example, regarding our shareholder resolution, GM loses the moral high ground on EVs because their components are heavily dependent on metals, mined and third-world countries, many of which are owned or controlled by the Communist Chinese, who are among the worst abusers of human rights.
Our resolution seeks transparency from GM supply chain for eliminating the possibility that child labor is used in mining these metals that are needed for EVs. GM’s response in the proxy is less than assuring by citing things like codes of conduct, statements, policies and standards that suppliers are allegedly required to sign on to.
[Indiscernible] hiding behind bureaucratic jargon is no substitute for firsthand scrutiny and accountability about your supply chain. We urge shareholders to vote for GM to produce more meaningful and transparent information about how its vulnerable supply chain operates.
Mary Barra
Thank you, Mr. Chesser. As we move toward an all-electric future, we are focused on utilizing this moment of transformation to enhance the sustainability and safety of our entire supply chain from raw materials to electric drive voters. We are deeply committed to protecting human rights. We have a zero tolerance policy for child labor in our supply chain.
This commitment is underscored across our corporate policies including our supplier code of conduct and our human rights policy, which emphasize our expectation that our suppliers are committed to protecting the rights of children and other vulnerable groups. We are committed to responding swiftly and appropriately to violations or alleged violations of our policies up to and including the termination of business relationships.
GM also follows robust and transparent supply chain governance, human rights and compliance reporting practices through our annual sustainability report. And this month, we published our first ever corporate human rights benchmark disclosure, which supplements our sustainability report with additional details about our supply chain governance and our ongoing efforts to promote the protection of human rights throughout our value chain.
That initial report is being requested by the proponent is unnecessary given our current reporting. For the reasons and the others indicated in our proxy statement, your board recommends that shareholders vote against this proposal. This concludes the items of business can be considered at face meeting. Following some final procedural matters to be addressed by Craig and the closing of the poll, we will proceed to the business presentation and then the question-and-answer session of the meeting.
I’ll now turn it over to Craig.
Paul Chesser
Thank you, Mary. If you’re a shareholder entitled to vote and have not yet voted or if you want to change your previously cast votes. Please do so now by clicking the vote here button at the bottom right corner of your screen. In a few minutes, we will adjourn the official portion of the meeting and begin the business presentation and what question-and-answer session.
Before we do, I will provide an attendance report and a preliminary report of voting. For today’s meeting approximately 150 shareholders and guests logged in. And now for the preliminary report of voting which is based on a tabulation of proxies received prior to the start of this meeting by the Inspector of Elections.
Following today’s meeting, the Inspector of Elections will tabulate any votes cast during today’s meeting and certify and provide final voting results to us. We will report the final voting results when all available votes are in on our Investor Relations website at investor.gm.com and in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Based on the preliminary report provided by the Inspector of Elections, for the first item of business, the election of directors, all of the Company’s director nominees have been elected. Directors received an average favorable vote of 98% to the votes cast. For the second item of business, an advisory vote on the compensation of the named executive officers identified in the Company’s proxy statement.
The proposal is approved by 92.6% of the votes cast. For the third item of business, ratification of the Audit Committee’s selection of Ernst & Young as the Company independent registered public accounting firm for 2022, the proposal is approved by 99.6% of the votes cast. For the fourth item of business, the shareholder proposal to lower the ownership threshold to call a special meeting, the proposal is not approved. It receives 38.9% of the votes cast.
For the fifth item of business the shareholder proposal to separate the roles of Chair and CEO. The proposal is not approved. It received 20.5% of the votes cast. And for the sixth item of business, the shareholder proposal requesting report on the use of child labor in connection with electric vehicles, the proposal is not approved. It received 22.4% of the votes cast.
This concludes the preliminary voting results. As mentioned, we will provide the final voting results when available on our Investor Relations website and in a filing with the SEC. This concludes the official portion of the meeting. And I now declare the polls for voting close and the official portion of the meeting adjourned.
We will now turn to Mary’s prerecorded business update and then we will open the meeting for shareholder Q&A.
Mary Barra
Thank you again for attending our annual meeting. I want to begin by thanking the entire GM team, our suppliers, and our dealers. Their agility and resilience are helping us to meet strong customer demand for our vehicles, which drove record net income, EBIT adjusted, EBIT adjusted margin, and EPS in 2021.
Advancing our path to EV and AV leadership and growth and working to create a zero emission world that is equitable and inclusive. For years, we have been working on investing to become an electric vehicle company with a clear and competitive advantage. These include our flexible and scalable Ultium platform, our vertical integrations and our manufacturing expertise and footprint.
Because of the foundation we have built, we are now in a rapid launch cycle of electric vehicles. It positions us to lead in key high volume segments from affordable crossovers to luxury, to pickups, along with new businesses and reoccurring revenue from software and services that will drive growth and higher margins.
So far, we have announced global investments totaling more than $35 billion to bring EVs and AVs to the market. In North America, we have begun converting plants to support EV production, and we have announced three new U.S. battery cell plants through our joint venture with LG Energy Solution with a forth to come.
These investments allow us to deliver more EVs to more customers faster, grow our sales and market share, and help us to decarbonize our global business by 2040. In North America, we plan to produce 400,000 EVs in ’22 and ’23 together. This includes the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV and six high volume EVs in luxury, SUV and truck segments.
Customers are taking delivery of the GMC HUMMER EV pickup with the SUV coming next year. Cadillac LYRIQ production is underway and the first vehicles to go to customers will be at the end of July. And three Chevrolet EVs, the Silverado, the Equinox and the Blazer will all launch next year. We’ve also announced an electrified Corvette for next year, and it’s generating a lot of excitement.
Here’s a quick look at some of what’s coming.
[Audio/Video Presentation]
Mary Barra
We’re very excited about these vehicles and so are our customers including those in critical coastal markets where we intend to grow our market share. More than 70% of current LYRIQ buyers are new to Cadillac. We filled our order books for the 2023 models in four hours and we have a waitlist for additional volume.
70% of those, who reserved a Hummer EV pickup or SUV are first time EV buyers, and nearly two thirds of Silverado’s EV retail reservations are new to GM or customers returning to our brands. The EVs you just saw with many more to come reflect our ability to scale purpose built EVs for multiple segments, brands and price points.
All of them feature exceptional design and superior performance with range exceeding 300 miles for vehicles like that LYRIQ rear wheel drive, and the Hummer EV and 400 miles for the Silverado EV. Because we had the foresight to invest early, by the end of 2025, we expect to have the capacity to produce 1 million EVs a year in North America, representing about $50 billion in annual EV revenue potential.
Another competitive advantage is our vertical integration. For batteries, it means we are working to control our own destiny and deliver the greatest performance at the lowest cost by investing in battery technology, building a strong and secure supply chain, and manufacturing our own cells. In addition to our retail portfolio, our new break drop business is unlocking significant revenue opportunity for the Company with the Zevo 600 and the Zevo 400 electric delivery vans for customers that include FedEx and Walmart.
We are also excited about the momentum at cruise. As of this month, it is the first and only company to operate a commercial driverless ride-hail service and a major U.S. city. This is a major milestone for AV technology that will significantly improve transportation in our cities and it underscores the entire Cruise team’s determination to bring its vision to life.
In fact, we are so bullish on Cruise’s technology and revenue potential that we recently increased our ownership state to approximately 80%. The investments I’ve just highlighted reflect our commitment to an all-electric future, and we are holding ourselves accountable to this important goal. As you saw in the proxy statement, we are linking long-term executive compensation to our EV performance in North America. This should leave no question that we are fully committed to leading and winning in EVs.
In addition, as we scale our EV and AV businesses, which now account for a significant portion of our product spend, the earnings power of our ICE business will grow. For example, we are launching new versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra pickups with new off-road and premium editions like the Silverado ZR2 and the Sierra Denali Ultimate. Because of the strong demand I mentioned earlier, we are expanding our truck manufacturing capacity and selling every truck we can build.
On behalf of the team, thank you for your confidence in GM. We’ll keep investing in opportunities that deliver long-term shareholder value and create a better world for future generations.
Craig Glidden
We will now open the meeting for questions from shareholders. During today’s question-and-answer session, we will be taking a list of written questions submitted through the virtual annual meeting portal and live questions over the phone where multiple questions cover the same or similar topics. We will provide a single question and answer to avoid repetition.
After the meeting, we will post answers to a representative set of the questions that were germane to the knee and that we did not have time to answer today or our Investor Relations website. If you plan to ask the question over the phone, please limit your remarks to two minutes. If you are already dialed in, simply hit star one to be placed into the queue. If you are viewing the meeting online and wish to ask the question over the phone, dial 1-877-328-2502 and press star one to be placed in the queue.
Please also be sure to mute your computer or other device you are using to listen to the meeting while asking your questions to avoid noise for feedback. Now let’s turn to the first written question.
Are there plans to reinstitute dividends or share buybacks? If not, why not?
Mary Barra
And we move forward, we will continue to consider all opportunities to return excess capital to shareholders including by way of dividends or share repurchase. However, our clear priority remains to accelerate our EV plan and drive growth and we want to maintain maximum flexibility to invest in opportunities arise across our gross platform.
A good recent example of our approach to capital allocation was our decision to opportunistically increase our investment in crude, our autonomous vehicle business at an attractive private market valuation. For this made tremendous progress on its path to commercialization and this is really just the beginning.
As I mentioned in my business remarks, Cruise received the final permit it needed from the California Public Utilities Commission to charge on the rides. So that means Cruise is now officially the first and only company to operate a commercial driverless ride-hail service in a major U.S. city.
At the same time Cruise’s technology is improving exponentially, strengthening our confidence and its potential value. We believe the decision to increase our investment in Cruise will further leverage the benefits of integrating Cruise within GM and is a best long-term use of capital for our investors.
Craig Glidden
Great. Now for another resubmitted question. What is your timetable and related goals in production and marketing of electric cars?
Mary Barra
By 2035, we plan to eliminate tailpipe emissions from light-duty vehicles and offer all electric heavy-duty vehicles. Launching more EVs faster is the catalyst for our growth strategy, and we are accelerating our volumes growing to 1 million units of EV capacity in North America by the end of 2025 and another 1 million in China. In North America alone, we target production of 400,000 all-electric vehicles over the course of 2022 and 2023.
We expect to deliver record U.S. sales for the both EV and EUV this year and between now and mid 2023 Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC will rapidly scale production of six Ultium-based vehicles, including the GMC HUMMER EV pickup and SUV that Cadillac, LYRIQ, the Chevrolet Silverado EV, the Chevrolet Blazer SS and the Chevrolet Equinox EV. And the same timeframe break drop is accelerating production at the Zevo 600 and Zevo 400 all electric cargo band. So I think you can see we have a very aggressive timetable.
We are also building on a competitive advantage in affordable EVs too, as part of the market where competitors are not focused. We are investing in entirely new digital retail platform to power a digital first customer experience and reduce the cost of sales. This new platform will empower our eligible customers to purchase their vehicle and how they prefer including a 100% online or any combination of online or in store. We have a new virtual EV showroom and consumer experiences like GM Live, which is a competitive differentiator that offers consumers the ability to interact with product specialist live day or night on their own terms.
Craig Glidden
Now, we have another pre-submitted question. What is GM’s position on the rising cost and sourcing of materials needed to produce battery components for electric vehicles such as lithium, given that many of these materials are sourced from China, how will the Company mitigate adverse impacts since the economy and relationships with China, start in all time low?
Mary Barra
What we are building is sustainable and resilient North America focused supply chain for EVs, from raw materials to battery cell manufacturing and recycling. We are also focused on chemistry that reduced some of the costly materials. For instance, cobalt in the Ultium battery has been reduced by 70% versus the goal EV. Our strategy has focused on secure, sustainable and scalable supply relationships for our battery cells.
So far, we have made a number of sourcing announcements including a multiyear agreement with Glencore for cobalt from Australia, a strategic investment and commercial collaboration with Controlled Thermal Resources for secure, local and low cost lithium from California. A joint venture with POSCO to establish a battery for processing cathode active material in Canada, and several more agreements for rare earth and permanent magnets, which are critical components in EV Motors.
Overall, this strategy provides us with more product control from a quality standpoint and it lowers costs. Altogether, we believe our actions will help to drive a more resilient, sustainable and ethical supply chain, as we execute our aggressive EV strategy. The majority of our China sourcing is for production in China, and we plan to continue that approach.
Craig Glidden
Now, let’s take the questions from the phone line. I believe we have a question.
Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Thank you. Today’s question comes from Timothy Smith with Boston Trust Walden.
Timothy Smith
Good afternoon. I’m Tim Smith from Boston, Massachusetts. And I want to start off by saying, I’m the proud owner of a Chevy Volt for the last year, and with 11,000 miles on it, I can count the gallons of gas, I haven’t had divide. So thank you very much for your leadership in the EV field. It’s much, much appreciated. But thank you, as well for being aware that General Motors and other companies won’t be able to meet their climate goals without robust public policy, empowering companies to meet those goals.
Globally, investors agree, you’re well aware of this. But investors with over $60 trillion of assets have worked together under an umbrella organization called Climate 100+ to address companies around the world on climate issues including scrutinizing their climate lobbying, both directly and by their trade associations. So these investors support the transition that General Motors has taken toward our electric future. So thank you again for that.
In short, companies are being evaluated for their own conduct, but also the actions of their major industry associations who lobby a great deal on issues. So, we appreciate it when GM reports on its climate lobbying, thank you for that report and its engagement with its trade associations and this isn’t just mere theory. In the next month, agencies like the Securities Exchange Commission or local state and federal legislation will be on the table, some trying to block forward movement on climate, unfortunately, others trying to advance meaningful climate legislation.
So, GM’s voice on these multiple opportunities is critical. But also, as you play such a strong and important role in groups like the Chamber of Commerce or the Business Roundtable or the Automobile Association, GM implements along with other companies can be crucial, so that our trade associations don’t undercut the work to advance good climate policy.
Thanks for letting us register this concern. We’d love to hear your comments on what you’re doing to advance climate policy. Thank you.
Mary Barra
Thank you, Mr. Smith. And thank you also for being a loyal Chevy Volt driver. I’d like you’ve had a good experience. I too am driving a Chevy Volt right now and enjoying it very much. It’s a great vehicle. Specifically, to your question, I think GM has done a lot to make sure that we are having a voice and also encouraging those that can influence public policy to understand the importance of supporting climate change and policies and regulations that do so as well.
We have worked with climate action 100 plus as well with our association as well as with organizations like you mentioned the Chamber, but also the Business Roundtable to support many initiatives around climate change. So I want to assure you that we are very aligned and we will continue to have a strong voice at General Motors on our own and work with these different groups to make sure that they’re representing support for climate change.
Craig Glidden
Thank you, Mary. We have another question from the phone line. Operator, can you open the line for the next question?
Operator
Absolutely, our next question comes from Brandon Gifford [ph] a Private Investor. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Analyst
Hey, Mary, this is Brandon. I just want to tell you number. One, as an investor, my competence in General Motors is beyond it’s ever been, you’re doing an absolute phenomenal job. I’m so confident everything that the Company is headed. What I’d like to know from your perspective is thinking of moving the Company forward as having the right people hiring the right people retaining the right people and we’ve seen a lot of people leave different tech companies. So I’d like to new perspective. What is the goal here? What’s your game plan to just get the best people possible whether it’s in manufacturing, [indiscernible] or wherever it is making the right cultures. So your challenge is [indiscernible] — what are your thoughts there?
Mary Barra
Well, thank you, Brandon, and I appreciate your support and confidence in the GM leadership team. We are doing quite a bit because we agree with you not only do we need to attract the right talent, but we need to retain and then help them grow. And there are many initiatives that we have in place.
First, I would say when we announced that we plan to have all light-duty electric vehicles electric by 2035. We actually saw an increase in those applying to join General Motors on our internal sites at gm.com. We also have benchmarked across many areas to make sure that we have competitive compensation because in many cases, as you mentioned, we’re competing with companies that hire a lot of software engineers.
So we have worked to make sure we are not only competitive, but are attractive, and many of our employees tell us they joined because they believe in the mission at General Motors. We also when someone joins General Motors, we actively work on diversity, equity inclusion, as well as making sure that we are a Workplace of Choice, and that we have high engagement scores.
And I report on this to the board on a regular basis to make sure that we are increasing our engagement and our representation, and that we are constantly working to improve based on the lessons we learned from our Workplace of Choice survey. So many initiatives underway, and we continue to learn and improve every day.
So Brandon, thank you for your question.
Craig Glidden
Thank you, Mary. At this time, we have no additional questions in the queue. So, we’ll return to our pre submitted questions. And the next question is. What are GM’s plans to address the semiconductor chip shortage so that dealer vehicle inventories can return to pre-pandemic levels? Why is it taking so long to solve the shortage?
Mary Barra
GM does have a world-class supply chain team and they are working with our suppliers and going deep into the semiconductor supply chain to free up the availability of chips. The situation is improving and we are expecting a 25% to 30% volume growth in 2022 versus 2021. However, it is our expectation that it will take an extended period of time for dealer inventories to fully recover.
And the medium to long-term GM is reducing the number of unique microprocessors needed to power increasingly high-tech vehicles by 95%. To do this, we plan to develop three-core families of chips that use similar architectures. The resulting efficient, efficient scale will significantly derisk our future supply chain and will improve quality.
And for this strategy, we are working with leading semiconductor companies including Qualcomm Technology, SP Micro, TSMC, Renaissance Electronics, onsemi, NXP Semiconductors and Infineon Technologies. This plan will help GM meet its goals to double revenue by 2030 and will strengthen our flow of semiconductors.
Craig Glidden
Thank you, Mary. And additional pre-submitted question relates to hybrid vehicles or hybrid vehicles being considered as an alternative to gas or electric only?
Mary Barra
GM has more than 25 years of electrification experience including with the plug-in vehicles like the Chevy Volts. From that experience, our vision is for an all-electric future. In 2020, we introduced to the dedicated Ultium platform, a combined electric vehicle architecture and modular propulsion system, that is capable of delivering performance efficiency and scale. Our strategy is focused on battery electric vehicles as they represent the best solution for and advance our vision for an all-electric future. We are open to technologies that provide performance improvement for our customers such as the electrified Corvette announced recently and is being developed now.
Craig Glidden
We have another pre-submitted question. What efforts are being made to make charging stations including with fast-charging capabilities readily available so that electric vehicles can recharge as conveniently as gas stations?
Mary Barra
We know a robust charging infrastructure is essential for widespread EV adoption, that’s why we are investing $750 million to build out EV charging and working with a variety of third parties including charge point operators, electric utilities, and government agencies to make home, workplace, public and fleet charging easy. In 2021, we introduced Ultium-360, a holistic approach that integrates charging networks, GM vehicle mobile apps, product and services to simplify the charging experience. Ultium Charge 360 enables access to more than a 100,000 charging plugs. By 2025, we will help deploy over 3,000 EVgo DC fast charging stalls and up to 40,000 Level 2 EV charges as part of our dealer community charging program.
Craig Glidden
Thank you, Mary. Can you provide an update on the progress GM is making on batteries with respect to holding the charge and extending range?
Mary Barra
Our Ultium platform provides competitive advantages that will help to drive customer adoption especially around range and charging. Because it is flexible, modular and massively scalable, Ultium optimizes cost, range, performance and customer friendly integration of components. We are launching eight Ultium-based EVs in 2022 and 2023 including the Cadillac LYRIQ, the Chevy Silverado and the Chevy Equinox EV.
The Silverado EV for example offers a GM estimated range of 400 plus miles and can add approximately a 100 mile of range in 10 minutes through fast charging and delivers high power and torque with 664 horsepower and a 0 to 60 time of 4.5 seconds according to our estimate. And it has better choice capability than our competitors.
Craig Glidden
Thank you. We have time for one more question, and it’s on hydrogen fuel cell technologies. Is GM exploring hydrogen fuel technologies?
Mary Barra
Yes. In the future battery electric propulsion systems such as Ultium will take the place of applications currently served by gasoline engines. Similarly, some diesel engine applications will likely migrate to hydrogen fuel cells. GM has been working at fuel cell development for a long time, and we believe we are a leader in this space.
The Hydrotec fuel cell power cubes we have developed are clean, durable, easy to package, flexible and enable rapid refueling. We have made a number of recent announcements that demonstrate our hydrogen technology leadership. We have an agreement with Navistar to supply Hydrotec fuel cell power cubes for its RH series fuel cell EV. This has game-changing potential for the trucking industry, and we are very excited about the prospect.
We are collaborating to develop and commercialize Ultium battery technology in Hydrotec fuel cell systems for Wabtec locomotive combined in technologies with approximately 25 fuel cell systems for locomotive to help paved the way for zero emissions rail transportation. And we have an agreement with Liebherr-Aerospace in France supply Hydrotec technology along with GM supply controls and software to develop a hydrogen fuel cell power generation demonstrator system for aircraft. We look forward to continuing to find the application for Hydrotec in the future.
Craig Glidden
Thank you, Mary. That’s all the time we have for questions. Again, if there are written questions that we did not have time to address today, we will post answers to a representative set of those questions on our website shortly after the meeting.
Now, Mary will deliver her closing remarks.
Mary Barra
Thank you, Craig. We are united around our EV and AV strategy. And we execute against it every day. And we will continue to focus every day on driving growth and creating value for our investors and all our stakeholders. That is our commitment.
So, thank you very much.
Operator
Thank you. This concludes today’s conference call. We thank you all for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect your lines and have a wonderful day.
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