Raphael Stevens

The United Auto Workers expanded its strikes against General Motors to a highly profitable full-size SUV plant in Texas.
The strike escalation includes roughly 5,000 workers at GM’s Arlington Assembly plant.
The walkout came just hours after the automaker reported third-quarter earnings results that beat Wall Street’s expectations.

DETROIT – The United Auto Workers union on Tuesday expanded its strike against General Motors to a highly profitable full-size SUV plant in Texas — a swift response to healthy profits and record third-quarter revenue for the automaker.
The Tuesday strike escalation includes roughly 5,000 workers at GM’s Arlington Assembly plant, which produces the Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, and Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban SUVs.

The walkout came just hours after the automaker reported third-quarter earnings results that beat Wall Street’s expectations.
“Another record quarter, another record year. As we’ve said for months: record profits equal record contracts,” said UAW President Shawn Fain in a statement. “It’s time GM workers, and the whole working class, get their fair share.”
Fain’s claims of record results for the automaker reference record third-quarter revenue, according to the union. GM reported declining profits for the quarter.
The automaker disclosed in its quarterly update that the UAW strike has already cost it $800 million in lost production — before the Arlington disruption — including $200 million during the third quarter.

Striking United Auto Workers members from the General Motors Lansing Delta Plant picket in Delta Township, Michigan, on Sept. 29, 2023.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters

GM, in a statement, said it was “disappointed by the escalation of this unnecessary and irresponsible strike.”

“It is harming our team members who are sacrificing their livelihoods and having negative ripple effects on our dealers, suppliers, and the communities that rely on us,” the company said, later adding it’s “time for us to finish this process.”
More than 45,000 UAW members at the Detroit automakers, or roughly 31% of union members covered by the expired contracts, are now on strike. Another 7,000 or so, or about 5% of the workers, have been laid off due to ripple effects of the strikes, according to the companies.
The strike began on Sept. 15 with walkouts for each of the automakers at assembly plants in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. They have since grown to include eight assembly plants and 38 parts distribution centers in 22 states.
The strike at the Arlington plant comes a day after the UAW targeted a key plant for Stellantis in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and nearly two weeks after a walkout at a Kentucky truck plant that’s responsible for $25 billion annually in revenue for Ford Motor. The unannounced walkouts at profitable facilities represent what Fain has called a “new phase” of bargaining with the Detroit automakers.
The union had earlier threatened GM’s Arlington plant.
On Oct. 6 Fain said the UAW was planning a walkout at the facility until GM made a last-minute proposal to include workers at the company’s joint-venture battery cell plants in the company’s master agreement.
However, it appears that progress has since stalled: Fain told reporters Monday that talks regarding the battery cell plants were “dead in the water,” declining to elaborate on where the discussions stood.
GM CEO Mary Barra said during the company’s third-quarter investor call Tuesday that discussions to include battery plant workers “under the scope of the national agreement” remained open, but said the current focus is for workers at the joint venture, known as Ultium, to negotiate their own deal with the union. More

Frontier Airlines on Tuesday joined larger airlines in announcing an overhaul of its frequent flyer program.
The new model will reward travelers depending on how much they pay to fly.
It’s similar to other large airlines’ recent program changes like those at Delta Air Lines and American Airlines.

Frontier Airlines planes are parked at gates in Denver International Airport (DEN) in Denver, Colorado, on August 5, 2023.
Daniel Slim | Afp | Getty Images

Even for budget carriers, earning elite status is now all about how much you spend.
Frontier Airlines on Tuesday joined larger airlines in announcing an overhaul of its frequent flyer program to reward travelers depending on how much they pay to fly.

Frontier and other discount airlines offer low, no-frills fares and fees for everything else from seat assignments to carry-on baggage. Those add-ons will count toward elite frequent flyer status on the Denver-based airline starting next year.
The carrier’s current program gives travelers one frequent flyer mile for each physical mile they fly on Frontier.
The new model based on spending is similar to other large airlines’ recent program changes like those at Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. Last week, Delta walked back some of its new elite status thresholds and limits on airport lounge access after customers complained about the changes.
Frontier said customers will be able to earn earn silver elite status, a new tier, after racking up 10,000 miles, which the carrier said is equal to spending $1,000. The tiers go up to “diamond” level at 100,000 miles, though there are accelerators to earn more miles at each level.
Perks include fee-free flight changes, seat assignments, in-cabin pets and, at the highest level, a second free checked bag.

Ancillary revenue is especially important to budget carriers. Frontier said in the second quarter it’s ancillary revenue rose 6% year over year to $80 per passenger, while revenue from airfare fell 15% to nearly $48 per passenger.
Frontier is scheduled to report third-quarter results before the market opens on Thursday. More

Amazon is considering offering veterinary telehealth as it looks to compete with Walmart, people familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Walmart began offering free access to pet telehealth to Walmart+ subscribers earlier this year.
The U.S. pet market is expected to grow to $200 billion by the end of the decade, and pet health is driving that boom.

Photo courtesy of Amazon

Amazon is considering an expansion into veterinary telehealth in its latest bid to compete with Walmart, which began offering the service to Walmart+ subscribers earlier this year, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. 
The e-commerce giant, which has already expanded into human health with its acquisition of One Medical, is a dominant player in pet food and supplies. But it has not so far meaningfully invested in pet health, which is expected to drive growth in the $137 billion pet market. 

The people who discussed Amazon’s consideration of the vet service declined to be named because the discussions are private.
Veterinary telehealth allows pet parents to have virtual appointments with veterinarians and veterinary technicians. The service is similar to human telemedicine. 
Earlier this year, Walmart signed a deal with veterinary telehealth provider Pawp to offer Walmart+ subscribers free access to the startup’s membership for a year. The offering is set to expire Nov. 19, less than a week before Black Friday and right around the time the pet holiday shopping season begins. 
Amazon could turn to Pawp to fuel a potential pet telehealth offering in time for the holiday season because Pawp has already proven it can scale with a large retailer. Amazon could also partner with one of the dozens of other pet telehealth startups on the market or build its own practice, which is what Chewy did when it began offering the service during the Covid pandemic.
As Amazon’s efforts to expand its health-care business show mixed results, the company has signaled that the pet market is a priority. Earlier this year, it spent big on a heartwarming Super Bowl ad that featured a rescue dog and how its family turned to Amazon when it needed supplies.

Amazon declined to comment.

Pet health to fuel market boom

Amazon’s potential foray into veterinary telehealth comes as the pet market becomes more competitive and retailers race to expand their offerings. 
As more and more mass retailers offer pet staples like food and toys, companies like Chewy, Walmart and Petco are expanding into pet health to stay competitive and grow their market share. 
The U.S. pet market is expected to grow to $200 billion by the end of the decade, and pet health care is driving that boom, according to research from Bloomberg Intelligence published earlier this year. 
Chewy has focused on building out its pet prescription, insurance and telehealth offerings. Petco has leaned on its brick-and-mortar footprint to develop clinics and grooming centers, making it one of the leading veterinary providers in the nation. 
Beyond its partnership with Pawp, Walmart recently announced plans to open a dedicated pet services center in Dallas, Georgia, as a pilot for what could become a larger program, the company previously told CNBC. The center, which will be staffed by employees of vet care and pet product company PetIQ, will offer a range of vet and grooming services, such as wellness exams, teeth cleanings and haircuts. 
If Amazon does move forward with a pet telehealth program, it could take a similar approach to Walmart and offer it through its Amazon Prime subscription service. 
The heart of the value propositions for both Amazon Prime and Walmart+ is unlimited free deliveries, but the paid subscription services also offer a host of competing perks that are designed to incentivize sign-ups and reduce churn. 
Perks that come along with the subscription services – such as Amazon Prime’s GrubHub+ offering and Walmart+’s addition of Pawp – are also designed to set the two offerings apart and keep the subscription services competitive. 

Lobbying for change 

Veterinary telehealth arose during the pandemic out of necessity, and the industry has grown as a convenient alternative to in-person visits. But some vets say the practice could be risky for pets. 
Dr. Lori Teller, former president of the American Veterinary Medical Association and a professor of telehealth at Texas A&M University, said pet telehealth can be beneficial, but she has concerns about companies that could be using it to drive product sales. 
“That’s when we can get into trouble with either delayed treatment or misdiagnosis, particularly when the emphasis is more on the product than the best thing for the animal,” Teller told CNBC in a recent interview. “The ones that are providing general advice and triage services are a benefit to the profession, definitely helps for after-hours issues or if you’re having a really busy day.”
A labyrinth of state and federal laws governing pet telehealth, and what veterinarians are permitted to do if they’ve never met an animal in person, has been a roadblock to expanding pet telehealth. It has sparked a growing lobbying movement to change regulations.
Corporate giants, such as Chewy and Mars Veterinary Health, a subsidiary of pet food and candy conglomerate Mars, have helped to fund those efforts. Amazon may be throwing its hat in the ring, as well. 
So far this year, Amazon and its affiliated businesses have spent around $430,000 on lobbying efforts that target “digital health oversight,” “telemedicine” and the Food and Drug Administration, among other issues, according to Senate disclosure reports.
It’s unclear if the efforts were directed at pet or human health, or both.  More

Coca-Cola topped Wall Street’s estimates for its third-quarter earnings and revenue.
The beverage giant also hiked its full-year forecast.

A Coca-Cola truck in New York City.
Alexi Rosenfeld | Getty Images

Coca-Cola on Tuesday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts’ expectations as consumers shook off higher prices for its namesake soda, Simply juice and other drinks.
The company also hiked its full-year outlook.

Coca-Cola shares rose more than 2% in premarket trading.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: 74 cents adjusted vs. 69 cents expected
Revenue: $11.91 billion adjusted vs. $11.44 billion expected

Coke reported third-quarter net income attributable to shareholders of $3.09 billion, or 71 cents per share, up from $2.83 billion, or 65 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding transactions gains, restructuring costs and other items, the beverage giant earned 74 cents per share.
Net sales rose 8% to $11.91 billion, excluding items. Organic revenue, which strips out the impact of acquisitions and divestitures, climbed 11%.

Like many companies, Coke has raised prices on its products over the last two years, citing rising commodity costs. But in July, the company said it was done hiking prices in the U.S. and Europe this year. This quarter, its prices were up 9% compared with the year-ago period.
Coke’s unit case volume, which unlike its net revenue excludes pricing and currency, grew 2% in the quarter despite its higher prices. While Coke has seen demand weaken somewhat, rival PepsiCo has seen steeper declines in demand.
In North America, the company’s volume was flat, but shoppers bought more Coke Zero Sugar and Fairlife dairy drinks. For comparison, Pepsi reported that its North American beverage volume shrank 6% in its third quarter.
All of Coke’s drink divisions reported volume growth. Both its sparkling soft drinks and juice, dairy and plant-based beverage divisions reported 2% increases in volume. Coke’s water, sports, coffee and tea business saw 1% volume growth.
For the full year, Coke now expects comparable earnings per share growth of 7% to 8%, up from its prior range of 5% to 6%. The company also adjusted its outlook for organic revenue, forecasting an increase of 10% to 11%, up from the prior range of 8% to 9%.
Looking ahead to 2024, Coke is projecting a mid single-digit headwind from currency. The company said it will share the rest of its 2024 outlook when it reports fourth-quarter earnings early next year. More

Panera Bread founder Ron Shaich is looking back on his career with his new book, “Know What Matters.”
The book recounts the highs and lows of his career and offers advice to aspiring entrepreneurs and CEOs, including rethinking IPOs.
“The reality is for 90% of the CEOs that take a company public, they live to regret it,” Shaich told CNBC.

Panera Bread founder Ron Shaich poses for a portrait at a Panera location in Newton, Massachusetts, on Dec. 12, 2017.
Suzanne Kreiter | Boston Globe | Getty Images

Panera Bread founder Ron Shaich led a public company for more than two decades, but that doesn’t mean he’s a fan of initial public offerings or Wall Street.
More than six years after selling the chain for $7.5 billion, Shaich is looking back on his nearly four decades at the helm of the company he transformed into a fast-casual restaurant giant. Shaich’s new book, “Know What Matters,” hits stores Tuesday.

The book starts with his first entrepreneurial endeavors as a college student and ends with Panera’s blockbuster sale to JAB Holding. Shaich mixes retelling his career with business advice aimed at entrepreneurs and CEOs navigating the highs and lows of leading a publicly traded company.
He cautions readers against chasing profits, trends and the prestige of being publicly traded. Ironically, Panera Bread is mulling an IPO, but Shaich, who is no longer involved with the chain, directs his advice toward founders.
The restaurant now known as Panera Bread started as a merger in 1981 between Cookie Jar, founded by Shaich, and the struggling French bakery Au Bon Pain. In total, Shaich spent 32 years at the top of the company, excluding the two years when he had technically retired but remained active as executive chair.
These days, Shaich is chief executive of Act III Holdings. He founded the venture firm, which mostly focuses on restaurant and entertainment startups, with some of his proceeds from selling Panera. Act III invested in Cava in 2018, getting in years before its initial public offering this year. Shaich owns a 10.3% stake in the Mediterranean chain, according to public filings.
One of the most unexpected pieces of advice in Shaich’s book is his caution about going public. Shaich took Au Bon Pain public through an IPO in 1991. Even as Au Bon Pain bought St. Louis Bread Company, renamed it Panera Bread and then shed Au Bon Pain to focus on Panera’s growth, Shaich’s company was publicly traded.

Still, Shaich said he thinks initial public offerings don’t make sense for most companies.
“The reality is for 90% of the CEOs that take a company public, they live to regret it,” Shaich told CNBC. “Why? Because you’re broadening, in a massive way, the number of constituents whom you have to really deliver for.”
In the book, Shaich recounts the various antagonists he encountered in his career, including Wall Street analysts and activist investors trying to take on Panera. He shares his reluctance to cede control to outsiders.
“With the benefit of hindsight, I have become more skeptical about raising capital — both from venture funds and from the public market,” Shaich writes in the book.
Shaich’s lack of appreciation for the typical venture capital model also comes through in his own firm. Act III doesn’t have any outside investors, known as limited partners, which allows the firm to focus on the long term, according to Shaich. The firm also provides continuous capital to its investments so founders can focus on the business rather than fundraising, he said.
In fact, Act III’s Cava deal is probably the firm’s most traditional venture investment. But Shaich, who serves as the company’s chair, is confident that the fast-casual chain is on the right path. In his opinion, Cava CEO Brett Schulman might be part of the 10% of chief executives who don’t regret going public.
“Cava is a company that will succeed as a public company. Quite frankly, because it’s a powerful niche: Mediterranean,” Shaich said. “This is a company that’s ready to be public, because it has a clear plan for the next 1,000 stores.”
Shaich hasn’t been so complimentary to other recent restaurant IPOs. He said at an Axios event earlier in October that salad chain Sweetgreen shouldn’t have gone public until it was profitable, the outlet reported. (Sweetgreen hasn’t reported a profitable quarter yet, but executives said they think the company could break even for the full year.)
Shaich is less transparent about Panera’s possible IPO. Last year, Panera called off a deal with restaurateur Danny Meyer’s special purpose acquisition company to be publicly traded for the first time since JAB bought the chain. Earlier this year, the company announced it’s preparing for an IPO as it unveiled a CEO succession plan.
Shaich declined to comment on Panera’s expected IPO, citing a nondisclosure agreement he signed as part of his exit deal from the company.
“But I’ll say this, I love Panera … I root for it in every sense of the word,” Shaich said. More

McDonald’s tried to buy Panera Bread, the fast casual chain’s founder Ron Shaich revealed in a new book.
Shaich writes that he thinks of former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz as a “frenemy” and that the coffee chain and Panera considered merging.
Shaich also had a job offer from the Obama administration, he writes.

Ron Shaich, founder and then-CEO of Panera Bread, in December 2017.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Panera Bread founder Ron Shaich uses his new book, “Know What Matters,” to impart lessons learned from his decades in the restaurant business — and reveals some juicy details in the process.
Shaich’s book charts his entrepreneurial journey, starting with the general store at Clark University he founded as a student and ending with his decision to sell Panera for $7.5 billion in 2017.

Along the way, Shaich turned Au Bon Pain from a nearly bankrupt bakery into a chain of bakery cafes, transformed the St. Louis Bread Company into fast-casual giant Panera, sold off Au Bon Pain and then turned Panera into a digital powerhouse that introduced free Wi-Fi, mobile and kiosk ordering and delivery years ahead of its rivals.
But that’s not all. Here are six of the most interesting reveals from Shaich’s book, which hits shelves Tuesday:

1. McDonald’s tried to buy Panera

McDonald’s expressed interest in buying Panera in the early 2000s, Shaich writes. He and his then-chief financial officer, Bill Moreton, met with McDonald’s executives to hear about their proposal. The Panera team wasn’t particularly interested in selling Panera at the time, as they had just divested Au Bon Pain to focus on the growing fast-casual chain.
The meeting didn’t change Shaich’s mind, either. He writes that he wasn’t impressed when one of the executives compared Panera with Donatos — a pizza chain that McDonald’s ultimately ended up buying, along with Chipotle Mexican Grill and Boston Market. (McDonald’s sold off those other chains several years later to focus on its core business.)

2. Shaich thinks of Howard Schultz as his ‘frenemy’

Howard Schultz, then-CEO of Starbucks, in 2015.
David Ryder | Reuters

Starbucks and Howard Schultz, the man who turned the small coffee chain into a global giant, are recurring characters in Shaich’s book.

While their menus overlap little, Shaich views Starbucks as Panera’s closest competitor. He recounts some of Panera’s strategic wins over Starbucks, such as offering free Wi-Fi while Starbucks still made its customers pay for access.
“I thought of Schultz as my oldest ‘frenemy’ — the guy whose proverbial rear end I’d been chasing for three decades, ever since we met when Au Bon Pain was a handful of cafés in Boston and he had seven coffee shops in Seattle,” Shaich wrote.
Shaich also names Chipotle founder Steve Ells as another restaurant entrepreneur who saw the future of the industry and helped create the fast-casual segment. Ells, however, is spared the “frenemy” label.

3. Panera and Starbucks almost merged

The McDonald’s agreement never came together. But another deal for Panera almost made it to the finish line. Shaich and Schultz began working on a merger between Panera and Starbucks in 2016, he said.
More than a decade after meeting with McDonald’s, Shaich started seriously considering selling Panera as he prepared to step down from the business. He had previously retired, in 2010, but the decision didn’t stick. Shaich writes in the book that he never really left, staying active as executive chair of the company, before he rejoined as a co-CEO in 2012. (Schultz has also had difficulty leaving Starbucks behind, twice returning to take the reins as chief executive again.)

A Starbucks employee organizes salads and sandwiches.
Jerry Cleveland | The Denver Post | Getty Images

Schultz first proposed a partnership between Panera and Starbucks. Panera would make soup, salad and sandwiches for Starbucks cafes, while the coffee giant would supply Panera’s bakery-cafes with coffee. But Shaich found the idea too complicated and instead proposed a merger.
Ultimately, though, the deal fell through. Panera’s stock was rising at the time, making the agreement too expensive, Shaich writes. He also says he thinks that Schultz’s decision to step down as CEO in early 2017 probably played a big role in the decision.

4. The Obama administration offered Shaich a job

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Shaich thought his career would be in politics. His political ambitions fell by the wayside as he turned Au Bon Pain and then Panera Bread into national chains.
But those aspirations didn’t disappear entirely. In 2009, the Obama White House called Shaich about a job in the administration. Coincidentally, Shaich received the call when he was getting ready to make his final speech at Panera’s companywide meeting, known as the Family Reunion. Shaich writes that he knew at the time that he would retire, but he hadn’t yet announced it.
However, Shaich ultimately didn’t end up in the Obama administration.
“The White House job hadn’t panned out — they needed to press forward before I was free …” he wrote.
Instead, Shaich helped create No Labels, a political organization meant to support centrism and bipartisanship. The group has floated mounting a third-party challenge for the presidential election next year.

5. Panera’s patent to review order accuracy by video

Panera’s yearslong transformation to prepare for the digital age didn’t just include installing self-order kiosks and creating a mobile app. The strategy envisioned by Shaich also involved reconstructing its kitchen operations so employees could handle the swell of new orders quickly and accurately. Panera redesigned its kitchen layouts and processes multiple times to make sure that it worked.
One change that came to kitchens was cameras. Shaich writes that Panera received a patent to use video to review the accuracy of sandwich orders.
“At one point, I used to joke that Panera’s production lines were among the most-watched TV, midnight to 8 a.m., in India,” Shaich wrote.
Today, cameras in kitchens aren’t as novel. For example, startup Agot AI installs overhead cameras in restaurant kitchens and uses computer vision to scrutinize whether workers are preparing orders correctly.

6. Panera’s enemy turned into Shaich’s partner

Today, Shaich leads Act III Holdings, which was an early investor in Mediterranean chain Cava. The firm’s chief financial officer and partner is Noah Elbogen.
Shaich reveals in his book that Elbogen was once an antagonist. In 2015, as Panera was in the middle of its digital transformation, an activist investment firm called Luxor nominated two directors to Panera’s board with no notice and a long list of demands. One of the nominees was Elbogen, who spoke at a meeting with 300 Panera leaders.
Shaich writes that after Elbogen left the room, he then fired up the audience and decried “predatory investors.”
“I got the crowd so riled up with the fear of working for Noah that by the end they were chanting in unison, ‘F___ you, Noah. F___ you, Noah,'” Shaich wrote.
But Shaich says he came to like and respect Elbogen, even though Luxor was still considered the enemy. Roughly two years later, Luxor sold its stake. Panera’s stock was climbing as its digital strategy took hold and bore fruit.
“I was a little sorry to say goodbye to Noah when Luxor cashed out, though I couldn’t admit it at the time,” Shaich wrote.
Years later, when Shaich started Act III, he asked Noah to join. More

General Motors beat Wall Street’s third-quarter expectations on Tuesday, as it battles through ongoing labor strikes by the United Auto Workers union.
Due to the ongoing volatility caused by the strikes, GM is pulling its previously announced earnings guidance for the year.
The automaker is also pulling near-term targets for its electric vehicles amid slower-than-expected demand.

The GM logo is seen on the facade of the General Motors headquarters in Detroit on March 16, 2021.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters

DETROIT — General Motors beat Wall Street’s third-quarter expectations on Tuesday, as it battles through ongoing labor strikes by the United Auto Workers union that’s costing the automaker roughly $200 million a week in lost vehicle production.
The labor strikes, which started Sept. 15, have cost the automaker roughly $800 million in pre-tax earnings due to lost vehicle production, including $200 million during the third quarter, according to CFO Paul Jacobson.

Due to the ongoing volatility caused by the strikes, GM is pulling its previously announced earnings guidance for the year that called for $12 billion to $14 billion in adjusted earnings and net income attributable to stockholders of between $9.3 billion and $10.7 billion.
Prior to the UAW strikes, Jacobson said the company was on track to achieve “toward the upper half” of its earnings forecast.
Here’s how the company performed in the third quarter, compared with average estimates compiled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

Adjusted earnings per share: $2.28 versus $1.88, estimated
Revenue: $44.13 billion versus $43.68 billion, estimated

For the third quarter, GM reported net income attributable to stockholders of $3.06 billion, or $2.20 per share, down 7.3% from a year earlier when the company earned $3.31 billion, or $2.25 per share.
Revenue during the period increased 5.4% from $41.89 billion a year earlier, while adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) declined 16.9% from the third quarter of 2022 to $3.56 billion.

GM’s North American adjusted earnings were off 9.5% during the third quarter from a year earlier to $3.53 billion. Its international operations increased earnings by roughly 7% to $357 million, while its equity income from operations in China were down year over year by about 42% to $192 million.
GM said on Tuesday from January to September of this year it lost roughly $1.9 billion on Cruise, the company’s majority-owned autonomous vehicle subsidiary. Those losses include $732 million during the third quarter, as the company geographically expands operations.

EVs

Jacobson said GM also is pulling near-term targets for its electric vehicles amid slower-than-expected demand. The automaker had previously set goals to sell 400,000 EVs in North America from 2022 through mid-2024 and produce 100,000 EVs in North America during the second half of this year.
Jacobson said GM will retain its targets of achieving low-digit profit margins on EVs as well as North American annual production capacity for the vehicles of 1 million by 2025.

“We’re really focusing on making sure that we’re driving toward demand targets,” Jacobson said. “We’re balancing production to demand.”
GM last week said it would delay production of electric trucks at a second plant in Michigan by at least a year until late 2025. The delay is expected to save GM about $1.5 billion in capital next year, Jacobson said.
GM continues to increase production of the EV models that are currently in production as well as battery cell production at a joint-venture plant with LG Energy Solution in Ohio, according to Jacobson.
He said the automaker is seeing improvement in earlier problems in battery cell production that hampered EV output, however officials are still “working through the issues.”
Overall, Jacobson said GM is focused on “streamlining the business” wherever it can to reduce costs and boost profits to achieve 2025 financial targets.
GM CEO Mary Barra, in a letter to shareholders, said through next year the company will launch “a wide range of new SUVs that are more profitable than the outgoing models.”

UAW

GM has been navigating ongoing strikes by the UAW after the union and Detroit automakers failed to reach tentative labor deals by a Sept. 14 deadline for contracts covering 146,000 union workers.
The UAW has been expanding work stoppages at GM, Ford Motor and Stellantis as bargaining continues.
As of Monday, more than 40,000 UAW members at the automakers, or roughly 28% of UAW members covered by the expired contracts, were on strike.
Of the Detroit automakers, GM has the fewest number of workers — roughly 9,200 — currently on strike. Another 2,350 or so GM employees have been laid off at other operations due to the strikes, according to the company.

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain during an online broadcast updating union members on negotiations with the Detroit automakers on Oct. 6, 2023.
Screenshot

The UAW, which has escalated strikes to pickup truck plants at Ford and Stellantis, hasn’t expanded strikes at GM since Sept. 29.
Jacobson declined to estimate how much the impact of the strikes would increase if expanded to other plants such as GM’s highly profitable Arlington Assembly, which the union has previously threatened as a potential target.
“We’re trying to prepare the best we can to whatever decisions they might make, but we remain optimistic and hopeful that we’ll make progress and get this resolved going forward,” he said.
During the last round of contract bargaining four years ago, a national 40-day UAW strike against GM cost the company about $3.6 billion in earnings that year.
This is breaking news. Please check back for additional updates. More