Bad News Keeps Coming for the Global Auto Market
Investment in electric vehicles continues to rise, but overall sales hit their peak two years ago.
It’s not a sure sale.
Photographer: Taylor Weidman/Bloomberg
General Motors Co. and LG Chem Ltd. announced this week that they will jointly invest more than $2 billion in a new plant for electric vehicle batteries in Lordstown, Ohio. The companies will hire 1,100 workers, which is about the same number that GM laid off after idling its compact Cruze model factory in Lordstown earlier this year. Their intentions tell us something about where companies see growth — in electric vehicles, and the batteries within them — but the news comes as the global market’s foot has come off the gas.
Global auto sales peaked two years ago at a bit under 86 million, on a trailing-12-month basis. In October, sales were only 78 million, a decline of almost 9%.