General Motors GM recently announced that the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV’s production halt at the GM Lake Orion Assembly Plant in Michigan has been extended through February 2022.
Production activities in the plant have been suspended since the end of August 2021, when a recall for the Chevy Bolts was issued, following several battery fires involving these vehicles. In fact, the recall was widened to include more than 140,000 Bolts and the Michigan plant has remained mostly idle since then.
The Michigan plant had briefly reopened on Nov 1but that was only for about two weeks and its production was idled again. The plant’s production restart date has been moved several times, from early December to Jan 28, 2022, and now late February 2022.
The latest decision to lengthen the production halt till February-end comes as the U.S. auto biggie remains committed to prioritizing the output of new battery modules for repairing the recalled Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV instead of building new vehicles for the models. Moreover, GM has intimated employees at the Orion Assembly plant about the extended downtime through February 2022.
Meanwhile, battery-pack production of the Bolt EV and EUV restarted in mid-September when GM and battery pack supplier LG Chem worked around the clock to track down and fix the manufacturing defects in the battery cells of the vehicles. In October, the automaker disclosed that LG Chem had agreed to reimburse it for the $2 billion in estimated costs and expenses associated with the Bolt recall.
While Chevy Bolt’s production remains paralyzed, GM has commenced the production and deliveries of its next all-electric vehicle, the hulking Hummer EV pickup truck. Moreover, the automaker has recently announced plans to commence production of its upcoming Chevy Silverado electric pickup in early 2023, with sales set to begin in late 2023. General Motors also confirmed that the Chevy Silverado EV will be followed by several other electric vehicles (EVs) throughout 2023, including the GMC Sierra E pickup truck.
General Motors currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Key Auto Companies to Tap On
A few better-ranked stocks in the auto space include Goodyear Tire GT, Tesla TSLA and Harley-Davidson HOG, all of which flaunt a Zacks Rank of 1.
Goodyear has an expected earnings growth rate of 196.86% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has been revised upward by 80 cents over the last 60 days.
Goodyear beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in the last four quarters. GT has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 228.45%, on average. Its shares have risen 91.2% over the past year.
Tesla has an expected earnings growth rate of 166.96% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has been revised upward by 62 cents over the last 60 days.
Tesla beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters while missing once. TSLA has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 25.38%, on average. Its shares have rallied 40.6% over the past year.
Harley-Davidson has an expected earnings growth rate of 34.92% for the current quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has been revised upward by 34 cents over the last 60 days.
Harley-Davidson beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters while missing once. HOG has a trailing four-quarter negative earnings surprise of 138.45%, on average. Its shares have dropped 3.4% over the past year.
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