GM had $6 billion to spend on next-gen EVs, chose stock buybacks | opinion
Despite numerous delays and mounting competition from Ford, Stellantis, and the Chinese, the GM board decided to take $6 billion and pump its share price instead of investing in the company’s future.
A few short weeks after labor negotiations led to a six-week UAW strike at GM plants, GM board members approved a $10 billion accelerated stock buyback plan. This week, the board kicked off that initiative with a $6 billion purchase and raising its shareholders’ stock dividend by 33 percent (to 12 cents per share) in the first quarter … a move that, to this writer, seems like a blatantly cynical cash-grab and shockingly shortsighted dereliction of the board’s fiduciary duty to the well-being of the company.
Stellantis is serious
Stellantis may have been slow to the electric party back in 2020 and 2021, when it seemed like you couldn’t go two weeks without some OEM or other announcing plans to go “fully electric” by 2035. But the Carlos Tavares-led company seems like it’s rising to the challenge – in a big way.
“While the BEV market may be experiencing a slowdown, Stellantis remains undeterred, capturing a 13.8% share in the EU29 region,” writes Max McDee. “The company’s electric vehicles are leading the charge in France, where sales soared by 56% to reach a 37.9% market share.”
In Germany, the world’s number two producer of electric vehicles, Stellantis is on a charge. The company’s sales there are up 22% over the year before, and it remains a market leader in Italy on the strength of its Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and well-received new Lancia offerings.
To make matters worse for GM, Stellantis seems to have rediscovered the fact that Jeep is a young, fun brand, and the company announced plans today to launch an “affordable,” $25,000, all-electric Jeep Renegade somewhat sooner than later.
And Stellantis isn’t even a strong example! GM’s arch-rival Ford is securing some top new product talent, as well. The blue oval is ramping up its efforts to produce an affordable EV and get it to market as quickly as possible, and its compact Maverick hybrid truck and E-Transit electric van are dominating their respective markets
If you look at import brands, Hyundai and Kia are closing the gap with Tesla, experiencing double-digit growth in the EV market without Stellantis’ advantage of having started in the single digits. Hyundai, along with Tesla, have driven down the price of 300-mile, fast-charging EVs to well below the $47,218 average new car transaction price.
At the same time, Kia’s design team is going from strength to strength with cars like recently updated EV6, American-made, seven-passenger EV9, and upcoming EV3 compact all looking like real winners for the Korean brand.
It’s not just legacy brands
Upstart carmakers like Rivian, with its compact R3 (above) are also coming to eat GM’s lunch with fresh, innovative products that compete directly with GM’s bread-and-butter offerings like the Chevy Silverado (Rivian R1T), Tahoe (R1S), and the Blazer/Equinox (R2), which are still getting crushed in the marketplace by Tesla’s super best-selling Model Y.
And that’s saying nothing of the Chinese.
China is a problem for GM
Once upon a time, GM could depend on China to at least buy some Buicks here and there – but the domestic Chinese manufacturers have stepped up their game significantly in the past decade, to the point that it’s no longer clear whether or not Buick will still be a desirable brand in the world’s largest auto market in five-to-ten years’ time (or in the US, for that matter).
Meanwhile, GM’s big talk about its Ultium platform bringing costs down with the economies of massive scale seem to have stalled, with the company producing far fewer mainstream EVs like the Silverado and Blazer than you get the feeling they’d have liked.
What’s obviously needed for GM to survive the next big evolution of the auto market as it transition to electric fuel is more product. Better product. Cheaper product. And, while we’re at it, more significant investment in its workforce, so that they can not only help develop that next generation of GM EVs, but be able to afford to buy them, as well – something that the latest UAW deal tried to address, even as it failed to secure pensions for employees hired after the ’07/08 bailout.
Instead, GM is getting a stock buyback. As a GM fan, I hope they reconsider.
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BYD’s cheapest EV in China just got even more affordable. After cutting prices this month, the BYD Seagull EV starts at just 56,800 yuan, or under $8,000.
BYD cuts Seagull EV price to under $8,000 in April
Despite an intensifying EV price war in China, BYD is cutting prices once again. The Chinese EV giant announced a new promotion this month across several Ocean Series models, including the Seagull.
The 2025 BYD Seagull EV is available starting at just 56,800 yuan ($7,800). The offer is for the non-Smart Driving Vitality Edition model, which usually starts at 69,800 yuan ($9,500).
After launching the new Seagull last year, BYD said the low-cost electric car officially opened “a new era of electricity being lower than oil.” Earlier this year, it upgraded most of its vehicles, including the Seagull, with its new “God’s Eye” smart driving system at no extra charge.
BYD’s Seagull is offered in three trims in China: Vitality, Freedom, and Flying. It has two battery options, 30.1 kWh or 38.9 kWh, which is good for the 305 km (190 mi) and 405 km (252 mi) CLTC range, respectively.
At just 3,780 mm long, 1,715 mm wide, and 1,540 mm tall, the Seagull is even smaller than the former Chevy Bolt EV (4,145 mm long, 1,765 mm wide, and 1,611 mm tall). It’s about the size of a Fiat 500e.
The price cut comes as BYD’s sales continue surging. With another 377,420 new energy vehicles (EVs and PHEVs) sold last month, the Chinese automaker has now sold over one million NEVs in 2025.
BYD’s EVs accounted for 416,388 while PHEV sales reached 569,710, an increase of 39% and 76% from last year, respectively.
| BYD Seagull EV trim | Starting Price | Range (CLTC) |
| Vitality | Normal: $9,500 (69,800 yuan) Now: $8,000 (56,800 yuan) |
190 mi (305 km) |
| Freedom | $10,300 (75,800 yuan) | 190 mi (305 km) |
| Flying | $11,700 (85,800 yuan) | 252 mi (405 km) |
Perhaps even more importantly, BYD sold over 206,000 vehicles overseas in 2025, more than doubling from last year. The Seagull EV is also sold in other global markets like Mexico and Brazil as the Dolphin Mini.
Later this year, it will launch in Europe as the Dolphin Surf, with expected prices starting under £20,000 ($26,000). Although it may not be the cheapest EV, BYD’s executive vice president, Stella Li, recently told Autocar it will be “the best value” when it arrives.
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Tesla has new Model Y inventory available today in the US, just days after opening orders for what is supposed to be its most popular model.
This proves that demand is terrible and Tesla is trying to hide it.
On Friday, Tesla launched the new non-Launch Edition Model Y in North America.
Prior to the launch, only a fully loaded $60,000 Launch Edition Model Y was available to order since January, and had been delivered since early March.
Now, North American buyers are able to buy a much cheaper version of the new Model Y for $49,000.
Only the Model Y Long Range AWD is available for now, but that’s Tesla’s most popular model in North America.
At the time, we noted that this is a great demand test for Tesla in the US amid some critical brand issues due to CEO Elon Musk.
We only have a few metrics to track the demand of the new Model Y in the US:
- Delivery timelines on new orders
- Available inventory
- Discounts/incentives
For most US zip codes tested by Electrek with different Model Y configurations (wheels and paint colors), Tesla quotes delivery within “1-3 weeks”.
But we also found several zip codes on both the West Coast and the East Coast where Tesla claims it can deliver the new vehicle “today”:
This would point to Tesla already having vehicles in inventory despite launching it just 4 days ago.
But Tesla is hiding the inventory.
If you search for Model Y in Tesla’s new inventory, you can’t find any in the US at the time of writing:
However, Tesla is showing some units in inventory to people configuring new Model Ys.
Some potential buyers are reporting that Tesla has a tab that pops up and directs them to some new inventory available (via TroyTeslike on Patreon):
This confirms that Tesla already has new non-Launch Edition Model Y in inventory available for sale in the US – pointing to Tesla having no backlog of demand for the new vehicle.
Electrek’s Take
This is much worse than I thought. I thought that Tesla would build a backlog of demand for the new Model Y in the US from people who didn’t want the fully loaded version, but it looks like that backlog lasted 4 days.
Of course, it’s all because of Tesla and Elon, and brand destruction.
Many people who invested in the stock market lost a lot of money over the last few weeks, and these people often happen to be people who buy new cars.
Now, the only thing left is for Tesla to start offering discounts and subsidies financing – the latter likely coming first, as it is already the case with new Model 3 orders in the US.
The good news for Tesla is that if Trump continues to crash the stock market, the Fed will likely have to reduce rates, making Tesla’s 0% financing cheaper to subsidize.
That’s a fun balancing act.
Either way, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tesla offer incentives on the new Model Y in the US within the next 2 weeks – way ahead of schedule.
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The new and improved 2026 Kia EV9 and 2025 EV6 are eligible for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, but one trim is excluded.
Do the Kia EV6 and EV9 qualify for the federal tax credit?
Kia’s first dedicated electric vehicle, the EV6, received some pretty major upgrades for its mid-cycle update this year.
The 2025 EV6 features a bigger battery providing more range (now up to 319 miles), a stylish interior and exterior redesign, and an NACS port for charging at Tesla Superchargers.
Kia’s first three-row electric SUV, the EV9, also has a native NACS charging port and will be the first model year to offer a high-performance GT trim.
We got a good look at the EV9 GT at the LA Auto Show last year (check it out here). The sporty electric SUV boasts 501 hp, which is quite a bit more than the current GT-Line’s 379 hp. The added power is enough for the big-body SUV to move from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.3 seconds.
Although Kia America’s vice president of sales, Eric Watson, confirmed the EV6 and EV9 are now in “full-scale production” at its plant in West Point, Georgia, not all trims will qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit.
According to CarsDirect, Kia told dealers that the 2025 EV6 and 2026 EV9 GT trims wouldn’t be eligible for the credit. A spokesperson said the exclusion is because Kia builds the EV6 GT and EV9 GT in South Korea, while all other trims are assembled in Georgia.
If Trump’s 25% tariff on South Korea is still in effect when the GT models launch in the US, it could create a significant price gap between trims.
Despite this, you will likely still be able to take advantage of the credit through leasing. Kia, like many, is passing the $7,500 on through lease cash, which can significantly cut monthly payments.
Kia will reveal more info, including prices, closer to launch. Check back soon. We’ll keep you updated with the latest.
With the new models arriving soon, Kia is offering clearance pricing on outgoing models. Monthly leases start as low as $179. You can use our links below to find deals on the Kia EV6 and EV9 near you.
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