Electrified

THE FOOL’S TAKE

Traditional auto companies such as General Motors (NYSE: GM) have been overlooked in recent years as investors have become enamored with electric vehicles (EVS). Even companies with little or no revenue have been bid up to multibillion-dollar valuations. That may make GM’S large and profitable auto business downright boring — but its stock offers long-term investors potentially high growth over the next decade.

GM has announced that it’s going to transition its entire fleet to electric by 2035. With its growing lineup of compelling vehicles and manufacturing capacity that startups can’t match — as well as its own battery platform, Ultium — investors shouldn’t count out the company.

Not only is GM a leader in the future of EVS, but it also has a controlling stake in autonomous driving company Cruise, which could ultimately become the company’s most valuable asset. Cruise is developing technology to enable ride-sharing vehicles without steering wheels; GM’S role will be to manufacture these vehicles. If the world uses autonomous EVS to move beyond vehicle ownership, Cruise will be the path forward, and that makes GM’S future very promising.

GM also announced the launch of a new business, Brightdrop, which offers a motorized pallet (to assist with warehouse logistics and last-mile deliveries) and an electric delivery van. And there’s still more to come, such as a variety of cloud-based fleet management services.

General Motors is an old company, but it’s changing with the times.