American legacy automaker General Motors seeks to revitalize its sales performance this year as executives claim that they have already surpassed “production hell” at its Zero Factory, Bloomberg reports.
Production hurdles: Freight delays, software glitches, etc.
GM believes that 2024 will be the “year of execution” after missing its electric vehicle sales targets for the past two years.
For context, GM only delivered 75,883 EVs in 2023, which indicates a significant gap from its set target of 100,000 unit sales in the second half of the year alone.
The missed targets are unsurprising, considering the challenges the American legacy automaker faced that resulted in delayed timelines. For instance, GM struggled with freight delays and software glitches, among other issues that seriously impeded the company’s ability to hit its targets.
GM also halted the production of its top-selling Chevy Bolt EV in late 2023. With 62,045 units sold last year, the model contributed more than 81% of the brand’s electric vehicle sales.
Factory Zero overcomes production hell
In a significant development, GM announced that it has already overcome the “production hell” in its Zero Factory in Michigan.
Therefore, GM now aims to produce 200,000 to 300,000 Ultium-based electric vehicles this year, a twentyfold increase from its production record in 2023. However, this target remains short of its prior production target of 400,000 EVs through mid-2024.
For reference, GM’s sales of Ultium EVs only reached 14,000 units in FY 2023.
Fortunately, GM seems to have overcome most of the challenges it faced in Zero Factory’s production.
“We’ve had some challenges scaling it. I think most of those are behind us.”
CFO Paul Jacobson
GM’s efforts to overcome challenges at Factory Zero
GM announced that it managed to raise the battery production at its Factory Zero by twofold since the fourth quarter of 2023, Bloomberg reported. However, the company still has more things to do to achieve true efficient production.
GM reportedly poured its best practices into Ultium production to ramp up battery production. It pivoted from the traditional production line setup to test manufacturing before starting. It employed 100% automated battery assembly lines at the factory right away instead of testing elsewhere, GM Global Electrification and Battery Systems VP Mike Anderson said.
Companies must press and pack battery cells rigorously to ensure their performance and safety. Therefore, having a robot stack up six battery cell pouches simultaneously can result in mistakes. In effect, GM called the Detroit Fire Department nine times into Factory Zero since August 2023.
Now, GM seeks to address the issues with its newly hired battery experts, consultants, and other experts, including ex-Tesla battery expert Kurt Kelty. They will all work closely together to fix the Factory Zero’s assembly lines.
