A Revved-Up Stock

General Motors (NYSE: GM) faces concerns about rising aluminum and steel prices and a plateauing North American new-vehicle market, but it has made smart moves, positioning itself well in the new automotive era.

GM has collected a number of its car-sharing projects under a unified brand, Maven, and has invested roughly $500 million in ride-sharing company Lyft. It purchased Cruise Automation — giving it a significant presence in Silicon Valley and a huge credibility boost — while exiting a money-losing European business when it sold its Opel/Vauxhall operations.

GM is becoming a leader in smart mobility and driverless vehicles and has focused the company on more lucrative global auto markets, which could pay off for long-term investors.

The situation isn’t dire in the near term, either. GM continues to cruise in China, with sales growing 4.4 percent year over year during the first half of 2018 to 1.84 million units. (For context, crosstown rival Ford, which was slower to get into the Chinese market, posted a 25 percent year-over-year decline in the same period to 400,443 units.)

GM is also rolling out all-new versions of its bread-and-butter Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size trucks during the back half of 2018, which should support pricing and profitability over the next few years. Meanwhile, the company’s dividend recently yielded a fat 4.5 percent. Take a look under GM’s hood.