General Motors Finishes Self-Driving Test Vehicle Production

General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) announced the completion of 130 Chevrolet Bolt EV test vehicle production at the Orion Assembly Plant located in Orion Township, MI. The vehicles have been enabled with next-generation self-driving technology.

The new vehicles will join more than 50 current-generation self-driving Bolt EV’s, which are in testing fleets at San Francisco, Scottdale, Arizona and metro Detroit.

Driving tests of Chevrolet Bolt EV have been started by the company and Cruise Automation engineers at various cities. Since Jun 2016, the model is in a testing phase on the public roads of San Francisco and Scottsdale, AR. Testing on the public roads of Warren, MI started in Jan 2017.

With the launch of Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles, General Motors will become the first company to assemble self-driving test vehicles, enabled with next generation self-driving technology, scheduled to roll off the line at Orion Township in Jan 2018.

The self-driving, Bolt EV car has General Motors’ latest equipments, including LIDAR, cameras, sensors and other hardwares. These have been specifically designed to gain momentum in the development of safe and fully reliable autonomous vehicles.

General Motors is focused on investing in innovative technologies and vehicles which should provide sustained growth while maximizing the shareholder value. In Sep 2016, it signed a deal with Canada’s Unifor Union to invest about $420.84 million in the Canadian facilities.

General Motors will invest $303.86 million and $113.95 million respectively, in the Oshawa and St. Catherines manufacturing plants in Ontario.

The company is also undertaking several initiatives to make vehicles more advanced, safer and fuel efficient. The automaker is presently focusing on autonomous vehicle development.

In Apr 2017, the company announced the launch of the Super cruise. This is the industry’s first true hands-free highway driving technology and will be available from late 2017 or 2018.

Price Performance

General Motors shares have underperformed the Zacks categorized Automotive-Domestic industry in the last one month. The company’s shares gained 2.1% over the period while the industry saw a 5.5% gain.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

General Motors currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

General Motors Company Price and Consensus

General Motors Company Price and Consensus | General Motors Company Quote

Better-ranked companies in the auto space include Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE:FCAU) , Fox Factory Holding Corp (NASDAQ:FOXF) and Dana Incorporated (NYSE:DAN) . All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Fiat has an expected long-term growth rate of 22.4%.

Fox Factory has an expected long-term growth rate of around 15.6%.

The expected long-term growth rate for Dana is pegged at 7.1%.

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