While there were signs that General Motors (NYSE:GM) was about to get back to normal with a tentative contract with the United Auto Workers (UAW), there were also signs that business as usual is anything but. GM’s ill-fated attempt at a self-driving car became a bit too ill-fated for the company’s liking, and it stopped production on the GM Cruise as a result. Investors weren’t happy, and GM stock lost nearly 3% going into Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
GM’s self-driving car attempt was shut down, if only temporarily, but not necessarily because of the recent lawsuits or anything like that. Apparently, GM has reached its production goal of Cruise vehicles, so it won’t be making any more for a while. A GM staffer revealed during a meeting that, so far, GM has produced “hundreds” of Origin vehicles, and that was “…more than enough for the near-term….” Future production is apparently planned, but the exact details of a restart are unclear.
Already, GM has around 400 such vehicles in the field, though it’s completely suspended its operations for the time being following an October accident involving a Cruise and a pedestrian in San Francisco. That accident featured not only a collision but the pedestrian in question was dragged for around 20 feet while the Cruise attempted to pull over to the side of the road…while still attached to the pedestrian.
Is GM a Good Stock to Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on GM stock based on 11 Buys, five Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average GM price target of $44.71 per share implies 58.43% upside potential.
