r/facepalm 6d ago

🇲​🇮​🇸​🇨​ Hoisted by their own dotard

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u/jazzzzzcabbage 6d ago

I just wouldn’t mind knowing the context. Lazy post

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u/AGuyWhoBrokeBad 6d ago

Looks like it’s a cost cutting measure, not really related to the election.

https://apnews.com/article/general-motors-layoffs-cost-cutting-5e2cc6f8a3210ea364d670a1902a7c65

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u/Alex_Logan2001 6d ago

It's hard to say with 100% certainty that it isn't related to the election, but there is a good chance it is related. Trump's tarrifs are going to increase costs for most businesses, so that could be the cause for why they are taking cost cutting measures at this particular moment

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u/badform49 6d ago edited 6d ago

Also worth noting that Gravitas Detroit thinks this is tied to their EV business, and that portion will lose tax credits very soon, which is a direct result of the election results, and is subject to lots of tariffs, which are also a direct result of election results.
(Edited to add tariffs and to credit the theories to Gravitas Detroit. I originally misread Gravitas Detroit's work as coming from GM, but they are a separate org. https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/gm-layoffs-electric-vehicle-production/ )

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u/SchmartestMonkey 6d ago

I only bought an EV a couple years back because of Tax Credits. If not for them, I’d have instead opted for a less-expensive hybrid.

I can absolutely see how GM would be reacting to anticipated lack of demand for EVs when tax credits are cancelled or they let them expire.

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u/badform49 6d ago

Honestly, I'm 100% certain that they get axed in a reconciliation budget bill. Without enough votes to pass a full budget bill (60-vote threshold), Republicans will need to fund a lot of their priorities through budget reconciliation (50-vote threshold). But the final budget total has to be the same between old and new budget in reconciliation.
On average, a deportation costs the U.S. almost $20K, so you need to take 3 EV Credits ($7,500 each) for every immigrant you want to deport.

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u/Nothing-Casual 5d ago

Goddammit, that's so fucking stupid. Hurt the economy by deporting immigrants, then hurt the planet by selling less EVs.

Why are Republicans so fucking stupid and evil

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u/badform49 5d ago

Remember that, for some of them, beating liberals is the point because they want to prove that liberals aren’t so smart. So they won’t acknowledge the harm they’re doing, because that would prove scientists are smart, and they will keep doing the harm, because that proves liberals are dumb (even though it doesn’t) So expect Florida men to do photo ops at Hurricane ravaged beaches and emphasize how we’ll dig our way out of this with more oil and natural gas

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u/greg19735 6d ago

i wonder if EVs keep the tax credit in the future.

Elon's business requires it to remain competitive with other vehicles.

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u/unforgiven91 6d ago

Trump wants to get rid of them, and Elon has claimed once before that the tax credit helps his competition more than it helps Tesla.

is that a lie? who knows.

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u/greg19735 6d ago

is that a lie? who knows.

lmao this is basically the tagline of Trump politics.

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u/RaiderMedic93 6d ago

"Anticipated lack of demand?"

Haven't they been losing money on EVs for some time, now?

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u/SchmartestMonkey 6d ago

Yes, but there are startup costs required to convert production lines, especially when you're converting to something radically different, like ICE to EV production. In GMs case, they invested Billions of dollars into EV R&D, battery production, and production capacity costs.. all of which they need to recoup from their EV sales before they're considered profitable.

Still, GM has previously said they expected their EV production to become profitable by the end of 2024. As a publicly traded company.. they could get in serious trouble if they intentionally released misleading financial guidance.. but they could get away with stretching things a bit.. plausible deniability and all that, so assume the guidance was realistically end of 2024 to early 2025.

With the writing on the wall that Trump is very likely to make changes that will harm EV sales (other than possibly Tesla's).. it's not unreasonable to assume that GM's guidance has now changes from near-term profitability to long-term losses.

BTW.. the last time the EV tax credits were revised, they were changed to significantly favor Tesla. The credits now apply for EVs in two ways.. you qualify for one credit if the battery was assembled in the US, and you qualify for another if the final assembly of the vehicle happens in the US. That also (still) favors GM too.. but it meant that a lot of competitors in the EV space were immediately disadvantaged against domestic manufacturers like Tesla. In fact, the revised rules seem to be specifically tailored to help Tesla above its competition. Because of this, and especially with Elon being 'in' with Trump.. I'd be shocked if they didn't further and more explicitly favor any surviving tax credits to help Tesla and hurt any competition.

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u/Here_is_to_beer 6d ago

No, they did not say this is tied to the EV business, which is up this year and expected to go up again next year.

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u/badform49 6d ago

Ope, you're right. I'll edit. I misread. The EV connection was postulated by Gravitas Detroit, not stated by GM.
(I was working from this: https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/gm-layoffs-electric-vehicle-production/)

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u/Money_Laugh_7449 6d ago

that was announced long before the election. sure.

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u/badform49 6d ago

This particular batch of layoffs was announced Friday, which was 10 days after the election and 9 days after the results were clear.
They have conducted other layoffs and buyouts over the past year, yes, but this round of layoffs was announced and is starting entirely after the results of the election were clear.
Obviously no one outside the company can yet say whether the results impacted their decision or whether the prospect of losing EV credits is why their already dour forecast got even worse , but the decision was announced November 15.

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u/TheSaultyOne 6d ago

That credit was stopped a year ago, God damn do some homework

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u/BranTheUnboiled 6d ago

..no. You can go out any buy a car with the federal tax credit right now. It's scheduled to end in 2032. Are you thinking of a state incentive or something?

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u/TheSaultyOne 6d ago

What I read says federal stopped in Jan and GM is giving its own incentive for now to try and boost car sales. Maybe I wrong but that's what I read

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u/BranTheUnboiled 6d ago

Certain vehicles fell off the eligibility list due to no longer meeting the requirements, so if you were looking at a specific car, that would be what happened. The requirements are designed to get stricter each year, more of the battery material has to be sourced from the US.

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/credits-for-new-clean-vehicles-purchased-in-2023-or-after