General Motors held court with investors Wednesday, outlining its plan is to get back on track financially and become the world’s “most valued car company,” as GM’s President Dan Ammann put it.
CEO Mary Barra reiterated that the company wants to have 10% operating margins in North America by 2016 and 9-10% profit margins overall within the next decade, which is consistent with the high-end of the range the company stated when it went public in 2010 after a period in bankruptcy.
As for how that will happen, a few points were laid out, including a plan for an increased focus on the luxury market, a segment Ammann noted has both high growth and profit potential, but which has recently been dominated by German automakers.
As part of that push, GM (GM) announced they would be introducing four new Cadillac models in North America in 2015, according to Reuters.
There was also talk of the ongoing compensation protocol for victims of GM’s faulty ignition switches according to Reuters. Barra said GM did not expect the total cost of the protocol, estimated to be between $400 and $600 million, to go up.
GM also said it expects to turn a profit in Europe in 2016, Reuters noted. This would be the first time GM turned a profit in Europe in more than decade.
GM’s executives are calling the plan a new start for the nation’s largest automaker, which has been working to get its operations on a steady footing after a recall this year of millions of faulty parts in small cars that have been linked to at least 23 deaths.
Another of the key components GM stressed Wednesday: 4G LTE connectivity in its cars, which is something it expects to have in all models shortly. Ammann said that 90% of customers who have it chose to continue using the service after the trial is over. This service allows GM to continue to enhance infotainment options, including services such as Netflix streaming for passengers, and, moving forward, communication between cars as the industry moves towards increased automation.
Mark Reuss, the company’s executive vice president of global product development, went over a few of the cars GM is expecting to roll out soon, including one Cadillac model he thinks will be a world-beater.
“It will be the most advanced technologically vehicle in the world,” he said. “And it should be. It’s a Cadillac.”
The company laid out a few other financial goals as well, including maintaining 9-10% net income margins on joint ventures in China and returning excess cash flows to investors in the form of dividends. The company also wants to continue to grow its financing arm GM Financial, which is expecting to start operating in China later this year.
