General Motors said it has secured more than 110,000 reservations for its new all-electric Chevrolet Silverado, which includes reservations from more than 240 fleet operators, President and CEO Mary Barra said in the company’s full-year and fourth-quarter earnings letter to shareholders.
The new Chevy Silverado EV reservation details arrive just weeks after the RST First Edition variant of the all-electric pickup truck sold out in 12 minutes. The numbers also illustrate the seemingly insatiable appetite of American consumers for trucks.
Ford, GM’s biggest rival, announced in early January that it will nearly double the production capacity of its upcoming F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck to 150,000 vehicles a year by mid-2023 in response to customer demand.
Silverado’s reserves signal future demand, which should have pleased investors but was not enough to stop GM’s share price from initially falling after the market closed on Tuesday. The stock has since rallied and is up 2.54% to $54.07.
The automaker reported that earned US$ 1.74 billion, or $1.16 per share, in the fourth quarter, compared to $2.85 billion, or $1.93 per share, in the same quarter last year. The company also said it generated $33.6 billion in the fourth quarter, slightly down from the $34 billion that analysts had expected and 10.4% down from the $37.5 billion in sales for the same period last year.
Sales and profits were pressured by the continuing global shortage of semiconductor chips. However, GM sees rosier skies ahead. The company provided updated guidance for 2022: The company expects to generate an operating profit of between $13 billion and $15 billion.
Its increase in electric vehicles is a key part of its plans for 2022 and 2023.
Last April, GM revealed that it would produce an electric version of the Silverado pickup as part of its plan to deliver more than 1 million EVs globally by 2025. The Silverado will be GM’s third electric truck, following the GMC Hummer EV and Sierra Denali. Production of the vehicle is expected to begin in early 2023, in time for the first deliveries later in the same year.
Last month at CES, the automaker showed off the new Silverado for the first time. The EV truck, which will have a range of 400 miles, will start at $39,900 for the basic work truck (WT) edition. A fully loaded, four-wheel drive RST First Edition, which we know has now been purchased by customers, will cost $105,000. Both are expected to hit production lines in 2023.
The work truck will be slightly less powerful, with 510 horsepower and 615 lb-ft of torque compared to the RST’s 664 hp and 780 lb-ft of torque. The WT will also have a towing capacity of 8,000 pounds, down from the RST’s 10,000 pounds. The RST edition will also feature a number of technological advances, such as a 17-inch LCD screen in the center of the vehicle and an additional 11-inch display for the driver, along with a massive head-up display.
Similar to Ford’s F-150 Lightning, Silverado’s biggest competition, the WT and RST editions can act as a 110v generator, with the Chevy’s maximum output of 10.2 kW, up from the Ford’s 9.6 kW.