General Motors CEO Mary Barra said on Monday that worldwide vehicle demand was recovering from declines caused by the coronavirus crisis, but added she would not take any short-term actions to increase GM’s stock at the expense of its long-term strategy.
“We are encouraged about the recovery we are seeing in most of our markets,” said Barra at an RBC conference, citing strong U.S. industry demand in August and a continued recovery in China.
Labor officials earlier week said that U.S. consumer prices increased solidly in August, with the cost of used vehicles accelerating by the most in 51 years as Americans likely refrained from public transportation compared to pre-COVID-19 times due to fears of contracting the virus.
The automaker is not looking for “a short-term pop” as it relates to its corporate structure, Barra added, when asked about a possible spinoff of the automaker’s electric vehicle assets.
“As I’ve said many times, we will always do what’s in the best interest of our shareholders over the long term, not necessarily for a short-term pop,” Barra said.
Some experts and GM shareholders have pushed the automaker to consider a spinoff of all or some of its EV assets into a separate company that would be valued at headier levels like Tesla Inc and other public EV automakers.
During a July revenue conference call, Barra said nothing was off the table when it concerned maximizing the value of its EV assets and there was no impediment to a possible spinoff.
On Monday, Barra did not promise a spinoff, but talked up the automaker’s EV technology. “We want to avoid any scenario where those competencies are compromised or there is a distraction from speed to market,” she said.
Last week, GM said it would join forces with electric vehicle startup Nikola Corp for building electric pickup trucks and hydrogen fuel cell commercial trucks.
