General Motors (NYSE: GM) today posted flat Q3 net earnings ($3.1 billion), but with pretax earnings up ~16%. GM’s adjusted earnings before interest and taxes were $4.1 billion in the quarter. Global revenue ~11% to $48.8 billion. North American pretax earnings rose 13% to ~$4 billion. Moreover, GM raised its earnings guidance for the third straight time this year. GM’s 2024 financial guidance includes anticipated capital spending of $10.5 billion – $11.5 billion, inclusive of investments in the company’s battery cell manufacturing joint ventures.
“In the third quarter, we grew U.S. retail market share with above-average pricing, well-managed inventories and below-average incentives. In China, sales improved from the second quarter, and dealer inventory fell sharply. In addition, we remain on track to reach our 2024 EV production and profitability targets,” said Mary Barra, GM Chair and CEO. Continue reading
Rolls-Royce 120th Anniversary – Claude Goodman Johnson
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Rolls-Royce Motor Cars today in acknowledgement of the marque’s 120th anniversary in 2024 published an overview of the life and career of Claude Goodman Johnson, born 24 October 1864. Johnson was born in Buckinghamshire on 24 October 1864, one of seven children. From London’s St Paul’s School, Claude went to the Royal College of Art. Here, he met Sir Philip Cunliffe-Owen, Deputy General Superintendent of the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria & Albert Museum), where Claude’s father worked. Through him, CJ secured his first job, as a clerk at the Imperial Institute (now Imperial College London). There, he was put to work arranging exhibitions.
“Johnson is celebrated as ‘the hyphen in Rolls-Royce’ but known to all simply as ‘CJ’. A natural showman with an unrivalled talent for generating publicity, he brought an extraordinary mix of skill, dedication and experience to his role as the company’s first Commercial Managing Director; a fascinating, larger-than-life character and a pivotal figure in the Rolls-Royce foundation story,” Rolls-Royce said. Continue reading →