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gm-20211231

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

Form 10-K


☑			ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021


☐			TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from to

Commission file number 001-34960

GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware

27-0756180

(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)

(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)

300 Renaissance Center,

Detroit,

Michigan

48265

-3000

(Address of principal executive offices)

(Zip Code)

(313) 667-1500

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:


Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.01 par value	GM	New York Stock Exchange

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12 (g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer ☑ Accelerated filer ☐ Non-accelerated filer ☐ Smaller reporting company ☐ Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management's assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C.7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☑

The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant (assuming only for purposes of this computation that directors and executive officers may be affiliates) was approximately $85.8 billion as of June 30, 2021.

As of January 18, 2022 there were 1,453,021,337 shares of common stock outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant's definitive Proxy Statement related to the Annual Stockholders Meeting to be filed subsequently are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

INDEX


			Page
PART I
Item 1.	Business		1
Item 1A.	Risk Factors		14
Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments		22
Item 2.	Properties		23
Item 3.	Legal Proceedings		23
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures		23
PART II
Item 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities		23
Item 6.	[Reserved]		25
Item 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations		25
Item 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk		46
Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data		53
	Consolidated Income Statements		53
	Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income		53
	Consolidated Balance Sheets		54
	Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows		55
	Consolidated Statements of Equity		56
	Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements		57
	Note 1.	Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation	57
	Note 2.	Significant Accounting Policies	57
	Note 3.	Revenue	64
	Note 4.	Marketable and Other Securities	65
	Note 5.	GM Financial Receivables and Transactions	66
	Note 6.	Inventories	69
	Note 7.	Operating Leases	69
	Note 8.	Equity in Net Assets of Nonconsolidated Affiliates	70
	Note 9.	Property	72
	Note 10.	Goodwill and Intangible Assets	72
	Note 11.	Variable Interest Entities	73
	Note 12.	Accrued and Other Liabilities	74
	Note 13.	Debt	75
	Note 14.	Derivative Financial Instruments	77
	Note 15.	Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits	78
	Note 16.	Commitments and Contingencies	84
	Note 17.	Income Taxes	88
	Note 18.	Restructuring and Other Initiatives	90
	Note 19.	Interest Income and Other Non-Operating Income	91
	Note 20.	Stockholders’ Equity and Noncontrolling Interests	91
	Note 21.	Earnings Per Share	93
	Note 22.	Stock Incentive Plans	93
	Note 23.	Segment Reporting	94
	Note 24.	Supplemental Information for the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows	97
Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure		98


		Page
Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures	98
Item 9B.	Other Information	99
PART III
Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	99
Item 11.	Executive Compensation	99
Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	99
Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence	99
Item 14.	Principal Accountant Fees and Services	99
PART IV
Item 15.	Exhibit and Financial Statement Schedules	100
Item 16.	Form 10-K Summary	103
Signatures		104

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GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

PART I

Item 1. Business

General Motors Company (sometimes referred to as we, our, us, ourselves, the Company, General Motors, or GM) was incorporated as a Delaware corporation in 2009. We design, build and sell trucks, crossovers, cars and automobile parts and provide software-enabled services and subscriptions worldwide. Our automotive operations meet the demands of our customers through our automotive segments: GM North America (GMNA) and GM International (GMI) with vehicles developed, manufactured and/or marketed under the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC brands. We also have equity ownership stakes in entities that meet the demands of customers in other countries, primarily in China, with vehicles developed, manufactured and/or marketed under the Baojun, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and Wuling brands. Cruise is our global segment responsible for the development and commercialization of autonomous vehicle technology. We provide automotive financing services through our General Motors Financial Company, Inc. (GM Financial) segment. Refer to Part II, Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A) and Note 23 to our consolidated financial statements for financial information about our segments. Except for per share amounts or as otherwise specified, amounts presented within tables are stated in millions. Forward-looking statements in this Business section are not guarantees of future performance and may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Refer to Item 1A. Risk Factors and the "Forward-Looking Statements" section of Part II, Item 7. MD&A for a discussion of these risks and uncertainties.

Our vision for the future is a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion, which guides our growth-focused strategy to invest in electric vehicles (EVs) and autonomous vehicles (AVs), software-enabled services and subscriptions and new business opportunities, while strengthening our market position in profitable internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, such as trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs). We have committed to an all-electric future with a core focus on zero emission battery EVs as part of our long-term strategy to reduce petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As a result, we have committed to making total EV and AV investments of more than $35.0 billion from 2020 through 2025.

We have an opportunity to grow our vehicle and financing revenue by continuing to capitalize on the strength of our franchises and scaling our EV production and customer base over the next decade. We also have the potential of growing our revenue through our software-enabled services and subscriptions, including OnStar, our advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS), Super Cruise, and future offerings, such as our next-generation ADAS, Ultra Cruise, and Ultifi. Additionally, we are incubating several new businesses with a start-up mindset that we believe will enable us to attract new customers and generate revenues in new areas.

Electric Vehicles We plan to launch more than 30 EVs globally by 2025. A key element in our EV strategy is Ultium, our all-new dedicated battery electric platform. Our first Ultium-based products launched with the GMC HUMMER EV and BrightDrop EV600 in 2021, to be followed by the Cadillac LYRIQ in 2022. This all-new platform is flexible and will be leveraged across multiple brands and vehicle sizes, styles and drive configurations, allowing for quick response to customer preferences and a shorter design and development lead time compared to our ICE vehicles.

In September 2021, we announced three new drive assist motors as part of Ultium Drive, calibrated in-house to ensure the highest level of performance in Ultium-based EVs. We designed the motors as a scalable family, sharing design principles as well as similar tooling and manufacturing strategies.

In November 2021, we began production at GM’s Factory ZERO Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center (Factory ZERO), which was re-tooled into a fully dedicated EV facility to produce the GMC HUMMER EV and the upcoming Cruise Origin and Chevrolet Silverado EV, which we revealed in January 2022 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. In January 2022, we announced that we will convert our assembly plant in Orion Township, Michigan for production of the Chevrolet Silverado EV and the electric GMC Sierra. Additionally, we have announced plans to mass-produce battery cells for these and other future EVs through Ultium Cells LLC (an equally owned joint venture with LG Energy Solution) in Lordstown, Ohio, Spring Hill, Tennessee and Lansing, Michigan. A fourth U.S.-based battery cell plant is also planned by mid-decade.

To support mass market adoption of EVs, we are working to ensure that our customers will have access to comprehensive charging solutions. For personal vehicles, this means strategically addressing charging needs at home, the workplace and in public locations. For fleet vehicles, this means turnkey charging solutions and fleet and facility energy management services. We have announced collaborative work with several charge network operators to filter real-time data on their respective

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networks and charge station health into Ultium Charge 360, a holistic charging approach that integrates charging networks, GM vehicle mobile apps and other products and services to simplify the overall charging experience for GM EV owners.

Ultium Charge 360 is also available to our fleet and BrightDrop customers and offers fleet and facility management tools, integration with GM’s fleet management offerings and support across a wide range of fleet sizes. In October 2021, we announced a new Dealer Community Charging Program to install up to 40,000 Level 2 EV chargers across the U.S. and Canada. Working with our dealers, we intend to expand access to charging in local communities, including in underserved, rural and urban areas where EV charging access is often limited. This initiative, which is expected to begin in 2022, is part of our commitment to invest nearly $750 million to expand home, workplace and public charging infrastructure through the Ultium Charge 360 ecosystem through 2025.

OnStar and Vehicle Connectivity We offer OnStar and connected services to more than 22 million connected vehicles globally through subscription-based and complimentary services. We are among the leaders in the industry, with significant global real-world experience in delivering connected services and advanced safety features. OnStar provides safety and security services for retail and fleet customers, including automatic crash response, emergency services, roadside assistance, crisis assist, stolen vehicle assistance and turn-by-turn navigation. Additionally, we offer OnStar Guardian, a mobile app that allows customers to access key OnStar safety and security services from anywhere and in any vehicle. Fleet customers leverage OnStar Vehicle Insights, our telematics solution across their entire fleet, regardless of vehicle make or model. We also offer a variety of connected services, including mobile apps for owners to remotely control certain vehicle features and EV owners to locate charging stations, on-demand vehicle diagnostics, GM Smart Driver, GM Marketplace in-vehicle commerce, Amazon Alexa in-vehicle voice, Google's Voice Assistant, navigation and app ecosystem, connected navigation and SiriusXM with 360L and 4G LTE wireless connectivity. In August 2021, we announced plans to roll out 5G connectivity in select model year 2024 vehicles.

Super Cruise and Ultra Cruise We offer Super Cruise, the industry's first hands-free driver assistance feature for enabled roads in the U.S. and Canada, which is powered by vehicle connectivity by means of a Super Cruise subscription. Super Cruise capabilities will be available on eight model year 2022 vehicles in the beginning of 2022 and will expand to be included on more than 20 models by 2023. In October 2021, we announced Ultra Cruise, a significant next step in hands-free advanced driving-assistance technology that we anticipate will be available on select models in 2023. It will create a virtually door-to-door hands-free driving experience as it will be designed to handle 95 percent of all driving scenarios on every paved road in the U.S. and Canada over time.

Ultifi Our end-to-end software platform Ultifi will provide our customers with software-defined features, apps and services over-the-air starting in 2023. Ultifi and the apps it enables will empower customers to update their ownership experiences continuously with desirable features such as vehicle performance, ADAS, safety and security features, climate and comfort options, personal themes and EV ownership experience elements, including battery and charging details.

Cruise Cruise is driving leadership in the development and commercialization of AV technology. We believe that building all-electric vehicles with autonomous capabilities integrated from the beginning, rather than through retrofits, is the most efficient way to unlock the tremendous potential societal benefits of self-driving cars. The Cruise Origin, a purpose-built, all-electric, self-driving vehicle that is being co-developed by GM, Cruise and Honda Motor Company, Ltd. (Honda), will be built on General Motors’ all-new modular architecture, powered by the Ultium platform, at Factory ZERO starting in early 2023, pending government approvals. In October 2020, Cruise received a driverless test permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to remove test drivers from Cruise autonomous test vehicles in San Francisco and subsequently began fully driverless testing. In October 2020, GM and Cruise also announced they will file an exemption petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) seeking regulatory approval for the Origin’s deployment, and withdrew an earlier exemption petition that was limited to the Cruise AV derived from the Chevrolet Bolt platform.

In June 2021, Cruise received a driverless test permit from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to provide unpaid rides to the public in driverless vehicles. In September 2021, Cruise received approval of its Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to commercially deploy driverless AVs. Cruise will need one additional permit from the CPUC to charge the public for driverless rides in California. Given the potential of all-electric self-driving vehicles to help save lives, reshape our cities and reduce emissions, the goal of Cruise is to deliver its self-driving services as soon as possible, but as Cruise continues to expand and scale its operations safety will continue to be the gating metric — supported by Cruise's Safety Management System and its other risk identification, assessment and mitigation processes.

BrightDrop BrightDrop is building an ecosystem of all-electric and connected first-to-last mile products and services, including light commercial vehicles, smart containers and a software platform for fleet and asset management designed to help delivery and logistics companies deliver goods more efficiently. We are converting our CAMI manufacturing plant in Ingersoll,

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Ontario to produce the all new BrightDrop EV600 and BrightDrop EV410 electric light commercial vehicles. In December 2021, we started deliveries of the BrightDrop EV600 to FedEx Express, our launch customer. Additionally, we announced that Verizon will be the first customer for the BrightDrop EV410.

HYDROTEC We are developing hydrogen fuel cell applications across transportations and industries, including mobile power generation, class 7/8 truck, locomotive, aerospace and marine applications. The development of HYDROTEC is another element of our long-term strategy and commitment toward the reduction of petroleum consumption and GHG emissions. We believe hydrogen fuel cells will play an important role in many automotive and other mobility applications where customers will derive additional benefits from the ability to refuel quickly, an extended range, suitability for heavier payloads and central refueling of large fleets. GM and Honda, through our long-term strategic alliance to collaborate in research and advanced engineering efforts, are developing and commercializing fuel cell systems. In 2021, GM announced it will supply HYDROTEC to Navistar, Inc., which is developing hydrogen-powered heavy trucks to launch in 2024, and to Liebherr-Aerospace, which is developing hydrogen-powered auxiliary power units for aircraft. In June 2021, we announced a collaboration with Wabtec Corporation to develop and commercialize the Ultium platform and HYDROTEC fuel systems for their locomotives.

OnStar Insurance Services OnStar Insurance is currently available in 46 states and Washington, D.C. and is expected to be available in all 50 states by the second quarter of 2022. In the future, we plan to integrate insurance products into the vehicle experience and offer premiums based on personal driving behaviors by leveraging, with customer consent, data coming from GM vehicles.

GM Defense Providing commercially developed solutions, including purpose-built vehicles, for government and military customers. GM Defense's growth strategy is focused on building a portfolio of products, including the Infantry Squad Vehicle and the purpose-built Heavy Duty Suburban, by leveraging our manufacturing and innovation capabilities.

Competitive Position and Vehicle Sales The principal factors that determine consumer vehicle preferences in the markets in which we operate include overall vehicle design, price, quality, available options, safety, reliability, fuel economy and functionality. Market leadership in individual countries in which we compete varies widely.

We present both wholesale and total vehicle sales data to assist in the analysis of our revenue and our market share. Wholesale vehicle sales data consists of sales to GM's dealers and distributors as well as sales to the U.S. Government and excludes vehicles sold by our joint ventures. Wholesale vehicle sales data correlates to our revenue recognized from the sale of vehicles, which is the largest component of Automotive net sales and revenue. In the year ended December 31, 2021, 30% of our wholesale vehicle sales volume was generated outside the U.S. The following table summarizes wholesale vehicle sales by automotive segment (vehicles in thousands):


	Years Ended December 31,
	2021			2020			2019
GMNA	2,308	80.7	%	2,707	80.3	%	3,214	76.4	%
GMI	551	19.3	%	663	19.7	%	995	23.6	%
Total	2,859	100.0	%	3,370	100.0	%	4,209	100.0	%

Total vehicle sales data represents: (1) retail sales (i.e., sales to consumers who purchase new vehicles from dealers or distributors); (2) fleet sales, such as sales to large and small businesses, governments, and daily rental car companies; and (3) vehicles used by dealers in their businesses, including courtesy transportation vehicles. Total vehicle sales data includes all sales by joint ventures on a total vehicle basis, not based on our percentage ownership interest in the joint venture. Certain joint venture agreements in China allow for the contractual right to report vehicle sales of non-GM trademarked vehicles by those joint ventures, which are included in the total vehicle sales we report for China. While total vehicle sales data does not correlate directly to the revenue we recognize during a particular period, we believe it is indicative of the underlying demand for our vehicles. Total vehicle sales data represents management's good faith estimate based on sales reported by GM's dealers, distributors, and joint ventures, commercially available data sources such as registration and insurance data, and internal estimates and forecasts when other data is not available.

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The following table summarizes industry and GM total vehicle sales and our related competitive position by geographic region (vehicles in thousands):


	Years Ended December 31,
	2021				2020				2019
	Industry	GM	Market Share		Industry	GM	Market Share		Industry	GM	Market Share
North America
United States	15,383	2,218	14.4	%	14,892	2,547	17.1	%	17,499	2,887	16.5	%
Other	3,083	356	11.5	%	2,804	377	13.4	%	3,645	480	13.2	%
Total North America	18,466	2,574	13.9	%	17,696	2,924	16.5	%	21,144	3,367	15.9	%
Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa
China(a)	25,878	2,892	11.2	%	24,926	2,901	11.6	%	25,398	3,094	12.2	%
Other	19,389	431	2.2	%	18,094	530	2.9	%	21,457	584	2.7	%
Total Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa	45,267	3,323	7.3	%	43,020	3,431	8.0	%	46,855	3,678	7.9	%
South America
Brazil	2,119	242	11.4	%	2,055	338	16.4	%	2,787	476	17.1	%
Other	1,488	151	10.2	%	1,105	132	12.0	%	1,531	193	12.6	%
Total South America	3,607	393	10.9	%	3,160	470	14.9	%	4,318	669	15.5	%
Total in GM markets	67,340	6,290	9.3	%	63,876	6,825	10.7	%	72,317	7,714	10.7	%
Total Europe	15,080	1	—	%	14,946	1	—	%	19,021	4	—	%
Total Worldwide(b)	82,420	6,291	7.6	%	78,822	6,826	8.7	%	91,338	7,718	8.4	%
United States
Cars	3,262	138	4.2	%	3,341	239	7.1	%	4,632	389	8.4	%
Trucks	4,125	1,223	29.6	%	4,050	1,257	31.0	%	4,494	1,332	29.7	%
Crossovers	7,996	857	10.7	%	7,501	1,051	14.0	%	8,373	1,166	13.9	%
Total United States	15,383	2,218	14.4	%	14,892	2,547	17.1	%	17,499	2,887	16.5	%
China(a)
SGMS		1,277				1,407				1,482
SGMW		1,615				1,494				1,612
Total China	25,878	2,892	11.2	%	24,926	2,901	11.6	%	25,398	3,094	12.2	%

__________

(a) Includes sales by our Automotive China Joint Ventures (Automotive China JVs): SAIC General Motors Sales Co., Ltd. (SGMS) and SAIC GM Wuling Automobile Co., Ltd. (SGMW).

(b) Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria are subject to broad economic sanctions. Accordingly, these countries are excluded from industry sales data and corresponding calculation of market share.

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As discussed above, total vehicle sales and market share data provided in the table above includes fleet vehicles. We sell vehicles directly or through our dealer network to fleet customers, including daily rental car companies, commercial fleet customers, leasing companies and governments. Certain fleet transactions, particularly sales to daily rental car companies, are generally less profitable than retail sales to end customers. The following table summarizes estimated fleet sales and those sales as a percentage of total vehicle sales (vehicles in thousands):


	Years Ended December 31,
	2021		2020		2019
GMNA	399		493		741
GMI	311		351		498
Total fleet sales	710		844		1,239

Fleet sales as a percentage of total vehicle sales	11.3	%	12.4	%	16.1	%

Product Pricing Several methods are used to promote our products, including the use of dealer, retail and fleet incentives, such as customer rebates and finance rate support. The level of incentives is dependent upon the level of competition in the markets in which we operate and the level of demand for our products.

Cyclical and Seasonal Nature of Business The market for vehicles is cyclical and depends in part on general economic conditions, credit availability and consumer spending. Vehicle markets are also seasonal. Production varies from month to month. Vehicle model changeovers occur throughout the year as a result of new market entries.

Relationship with Dealers We market vehicles and automotive parts worldwide primarily through a network of independent authorized retail dealers. These outlets include distributors, dealers and authorized sales, service and parts outlets. Our customers can obtain a wide range of after-sale vehicle services and products through our dealer network, such as maintenance, light repairs, collision repairs, vehicle accessories and extended service warranties. The number of authorized dealerships and other agents performing similar functions were 4,670 in GMNA and 7,670 in GMI at December 31, 2021.

We and our joint ventures enter into a contract with each authorized dealer agreeing to sell to the dealer one or more specified product lines at wholesale prices and granting the dealer the right to sell those products to customers from an approved location. Our dealers often offer more than one GM brand at a single dealership in a number of our markets. Authorized dealers offer parts, accessories, service and repairs for GM vehicles in the product lines that they sell using GM parts and accessories. Our dealers are authorized to service GM vehicles under our limited warranty, and those repairs are made almost exclusively with GM parts. Our dealers generally provide their customers with access to credit or lease financing, vehicle insurance and extended service contracts, which may be provided by GM Financial and other financial institutions.

The quality of GM dealerships and our relationship with our dealers are critical to our success given that they maintain the primary sales and service interface with the end consumer of our products. In addition to the terms of our contracts with our dealers, we are regulated by various country and state franchise laws and regulations that may supersede those contractual terms and impose specific regulatory requirements and standards for initiating dealer network changes, pursuing terminations for cause and other contractual matters.

Research, Product Development and Intellectual Property Costs for research, manufacturing engineering, product engineering and design and development activities primarily relate to developing new products or services or improving existing products or services, including activities related to vehicle and GHG emissions control, improved fuel economy, EVs, AVs and the safety of drivers and passengers. Research and development expenses were $7.9 billion, $6.2 billion and $6.8 billion in the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

Product Development The Global Product Development organization is responsible for designing, developing and integrating all global products and their components while aiming to maximize part sharing across multiple vehicle segments. Global teams in Design, Program Management & Execution, Component & Subsystem Engineering, Product Integrity, Safety, Controls and Software Engineering and Purchasing & Supply Chain collaborate to meet customer requirements and maximize global economies of scale.

Our global vehicle architecture development is headquartered at our Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. Cross-segment part sharing is an essential enabler to optimize our vehicle portfolio, with more than 75% of our global internal combustion vehicle sales volume expected to come from five internal combustion vehicle architectures through this decade. We

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will continue to leverage our architecture portfolio to accommodate our customers around the world while achieving our financial goals.

We invested in construction of the Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center, an all-new facility that will significantly expand the Company's battery technology operations and accelerate development and commercialization of longer range, more affordable EV batteries. The Wallace Center will be located on the campus of the Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan.

Intellectual Property We are constantly innovating and hold a significant number of patents, copyrights, trade secrets and other intellectual property that protect those innovations in numerous countries. While no single piece of intellectual property is individually material to our business as a whole, our intellectual property is important to our operations and continued technological development. Additionally, we hold a number of trademarks and service marks that are very important to our identity and recognition in the marketplace.

Raw Materials, Services and Supplies We purchase a wide variety of raw materials, parts, supplies, energy, freight, transportation and other services from numerous suppliers to manufacture our products. The raw materials primarily include steel, aluminum, resins, copper, lead and precious metals. We do not normally carry substantial inventories of these raw materials in excess of levels reasonably required to meet our production requirements, and we have not experienced any significant shortages of raw materials. Costs are expected to remain elevated due to the price of commodities and the continuing existence of tariffs. We also purchase systems, components and parts from suppliers. The global semiconductor supply shortage has had, and is continuing to have, wide-ranging effects across multiple industries, particularly the automotive industry. Refer to Item 1A. Risk Factors and to Part II, Item 7. MD&A for further discussion on the effect the global semiconductor supply shortage has had on our results of operations.

In some instances, we purchase systems, components, parts and supplies from a single source, which may increase risk to supply disruptions. The inability or unwillingness of these sources to provide us with parts and supplies could have a material adverse effect on our production. Combined purchases from our two largest suppliers were approximately 12% of total purchases in the year ended December 31, 2021, and approximately 11% of our total purchases in each of the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019. Refer to Item 1A. Risk Factors for further discussion of these risks.

Our transition to EVs includes a resilient, scalable and more sustainable North America-focused EV supply chain. Certain of the initiatives we have advanced in 2021 include sourcing silicon carbide power device solutions for GM’s EV programs, processing cathode active material, sourcing U.S. lithium with more sustainable extraction methods and sourcing permanent magnets using locally sourced raw materials.

Automotive Financing - GM Financial GM Financial is our global captive automotive finance company and our global provider of automobile finance solutions. GM Financial conducts its business in North America, South America and through joint ventures in China.

GM Financial provides retail loan and lease lending across the credit spectrum to support vehicle sales. Additionally, GM Financial offers commercial lending products to dealers including floorplan financing, which is lending to finance new and used vehicle inventory; and dealer loans, which are loans to finance improvements to dealership facilities, to provide working capital, or to purchase and/or finance dealership real estate. Other commercial lending products include financing for parts and accessories, dealer fleets and storage centers.

In North America, GM Financial offers a sub-prime lending program. The program is primarily offered to consumers with a FICO score or its equivalent of less than 620 who have limited access to automobile financing through banks and credit unions and is expected to sustain a higher level of credit losses than prime lending.

GM Financial generally seeks to fund its operations in each country through local sources of funding to minimize currency and country risk. GM Financial primarily finances its loan, lease and commercial origination volume through the use of secured and unsecured credit facilities, securitization transactions and the issuance of unsecured debt in the capital markets.

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Human Capital

The foundation of GM’s business is our Purpose: We pioneer the innovations that move and connect people to what matters. It's why we exist. Our Purpose, growth strategy and culture all help us on our path towards achieving our vision of — a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. Our people are our most valuable asset, and we must continue to attract and retain the best talent in the world in order to achieve this vision. As a result, we strive to create a Workplace of Choice to attract, retain and develop top talent by adhering to a responsible employer philosophy, which includes, among other things, commitments to create job opportunities, pay workers fairly, ensure safety and well-being, and promote diversity, equity and inclusion. Fundamental to these commitments are our company values.

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Our eight GM behaviors are the foundation of our culture; and how we behave encompasses key measures of our performance, including the visible ways we conduct ourselves as we work with one another.

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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion At GM, we are committed to fostering a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion. In every moment, we must decide what we can do — individually and collectively — to drive meaningful, deliberate and long-lasting change. GM’s unwavering commitment in this regard includes taking steps to ensure that all areas of our business are

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supportive of a world-class inclusive, equitable and diverse organization. Our ability to meet the needs of a diverse and global customer base is tied closely to the behaviors of the people within our company, which is why we are committed to fostering a culture that celebrates our differences. This commitment is embraced at all levels of the organization, including our diverse Board of Directors, which is currently made up of more than 50% women (7 out of 13 members) and is more than 30% racially or ethnically diverse (4 out of 13 members). In alignment with these commitments, GM publicly disclosed its EEO-1 Consolidated Report for the first time in 2021.

Based on these longstanding values, our Chair and CEO, Mary Barra, chairs an Inclusion Advisory Board (IAB) of internal and external leaders who guide our work to improve diversity and inclusion in our Company. The purpose of the IAB is to consult with GM’s Senior Leadership Team with the long-term goal of inspiring the Company to be inclusive through our words, deeds and culture. We also have a number of programs and partnerships aimed at enhancing our culture of inclusion throughout the Company. For example, we have 11 voluntary, employee-led resource groups that provide a forum for diverse employees and allies from a variety of different backgrounds to share experiences and express concerns. Each group also works to attract new talent to our company and offers employees opportunities to support our company’s diversity initiatives within the community.

In addition, we are expanding our partnerships with organizations aimed at supporting our ongoing efforts to increase the representation of women and underrepresented groups in our workplace. Through our participation in the Business Roundtable Multiple Pathways Initiative and OneTen, for example, we are specifically aiming to build more robust pipelines for skills-based hiring into our company while ensuring long-term developmental opportunity.

Develop and Retain Talented People Today, we compete for talent against other automotive companies and against businesses in other sectors, such as technology. To win and keep top talent, we must provide a workplace culture that encourages employee behaviors aligned with our values, fulfills their long-term individual aspirations and provides experiences that make individuals feel valued, included and engaged. In furtherance of this goal, we invest significant resources to retain and develop our talent. In addition to mentoring and networking opportunities, we offer a vast array of career development resources to help develop, grow and enable employees to make the most of their careers at GM. Formal resources include, among other things, the Technical Education Program, which offers our employees an opportunity to complete corporate strategically aligned degrees and certificate programs at leading universities, and our Degreed Learning Platform, which brings forth a variety of external and in-house content in learning pathways and other micro learnings. It is also tied to our GM Competency and skills model. Employees in some of our technical roles also have the opportunity to participate in the GM Technical Learning University — a training and upskilling program designed to expand and update the technical prowess of our workforce.

GM recognizes that leadership effectiveness is a critical business need. All new managers in the Company are automatically entered into a six-month immersive learning program and all new executives come together annually for a week-long upskilling and targeted development program designed around the GM leadership profile.

Safety and Well-Being The safety and well-being of our employees is also a critical component of our ability to transform the future of personal mobility. At GM, we pride ourselves on our commitment to live values that return people home safely — Every Person, Every Site, Every Day. Our unwavering commitment to safety is manifested through empowering employees to “Speak Up for Safety” through various means without fear of retaliation. The well-being of our employees is equally as important to entice and stimulate creativity and innovation. In addition to traditional healthcare, paid time off, paid parental leave, wellness programs, flextime scheduling and telecommuting arrangements and retirement benefits, including a 401(k) matching program, GM offers a variety of benefits and resources to support employees' physical and mental health, including access to fitness facilities in certain locations, which help us both attract talent and reap the benefits of a healthier workforce. In addition, leveraging our experience with remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, GM recently instituted “Work Appropriately,” a policy whereby, depending on the nature of their work, our employees have the flexibility to work where they can have the greatest impact to achieve their goals and for their individual success.

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Employees At December 31, 2021, we employed approximately 83,000 (53%) hourly employees and approximately 74,000 (47%) salaried employees. At December 31, 2021, approximately 45,000 (46%) of our U.S. employees were represented by unions, a majority of which were represented by the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW). The following table summarizes worldwide employment (in thousands):


			December 31, 2021
GMNA(a)			115
GMI			33
GM Financial			9
Total Worldwide			157

U.S. - Salaried			53
U.S. - Hourly			45

__________

(a)Includes Cruise.

Information About our Executive Officers As of February 2, 2022, the names and ages of our executive officers and their positions with GM are as follows:

Name (Age)

Present GM Position (Effective Date)

Positions Held During the Past Five Years (Effective Date)

Mary T. Barra (60)

Chair and Chief Executive Officer (2016)

Julian Blissett (55)

Executive Vice President and President, GM China (2020)

Senior Vice President, International Operations (2019)
Vice President, Executive Shanghai GM (2014)

Stephen K. Carlisle (59)

Executive Vice President and President, North America (2020)

Senior Vice President and President, Cadillac (2018)
President and Managing Director, GM Canada (2015)

Craig B. Glidden (64)

Executive Vice President, Global Public Policy, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary (2021)

Executive Vice President and General Counsel (2015)

Christopher T. Hatto (51)

Vice President, Global Business Solutions and Chief Accounting Officer (2020)

Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer (2018)
Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Sales Operations (2016)

Paul A. Jacobson (50)

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (2020)

Delta Air Lines, Executive Vice President — Chief Financial Officer (2013)

Gerald Johnson (59)

Executive Vice President, Global Manufacturing and Sustainability (2019)

Vice President, North America Manufacturing and Labor Relations (2017)
Vice President of Operational Excellence (2014)

Douglas L. Parks (60)

Executive Vice President, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain (2019)

Vice President, Autonomous and Electric Vehicles (2017)
Vice President, Autonomous Technology and Vehicle Execution (2016)

Mark L. Reuss (58)

President (2019)

Executive Vice President and President, Global Product Development Group and Cadillac (2018)

Executive Vice President, Global Product Development, Purchasing & Supply Chain (2014)

There are no family relationships between any of the officers named above and there is no arrangement or understanding between any of the officers named above and any other person pursuant to which he or she was selected as an officer. Each of the officers named above was elected by the Board of Directors to hold office until his or her successor is elected and qualified or until his or her earlier resignation or removal.

Environmental and Regulatory Matters

Automotive Criteria Emissions Control Our products are subject to laws and regulations globally that require us to control certain non-GHG automotive emissions, including vehicle and engine exhaust emission standards, vehicle evaporative emission standards and onboard diagnostic (OBD) system requirements. Emission requirements have become more stringent as a result of stricter standards and new diagnostic requirements that have come into force in many markets around the world, often with very little harmonization. Regulatory authorities may conduct ongoing evaluations of products from all manufacturers. For additional information, refer to Item 1A. Risk Factors.

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The U.S. federal government, through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), imposes stringent exhaust and evaporative emission control requirements on vehicles sold in the U.S. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) likewise imposes stringent exhaust and evaporative emission standards. The Clean Air Act permits states that have areas with air quality compliance issues to adopt California emission standards in lieu of federal requirements. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have adopted California emission standards, and there is a possibility that additional U.S. jurisdictions could adopt California emission requirements in the future.

For each model year we must obtain certification that our vehicles and heavy-duty engines will meet emission requirements of the EPA before we can sell vehicles in the U.S. and Canada, and of CARB before we can sell vehicles in California and the states that have adopted California emission requirements.

The Canadian federal government's current vehicle pollutant emission requirements are generally aligned with U.S. federal requirements.

In 2019, certain areas within China began implementation of the China 6 emission standard (China 6) requirements. China 6 combines elements of both European Union (EU) and U.S. standards and increases the time and mileage periods over which manufacturers are responsible for a vehicle's emission performance. Nationwide implementation of China 6a for new registrations occurred in January 2021, and the more stringent China 6b is expected to be implemented in July 2023.

Brazil has approved a set of national emission standards referred to as L7, to be implemented in 2022, and L8, to be implemented from 2025 onward. L7 standards cover tailpipe exhaust gases, durability for emissions, evaporative emissions and noise limits, and include additional OBD requirements and a phase-in for onboard refueling vapor recovery systems. L8 standards include targets for vehicle emissions and reduce corporate exhaust limits every two years until 2031. Some of the requirements are aligned with those of the EPA.

As a result of the sale of the Opel and Vauxhall businesses and certain other assets in Europe (Opel/Vauxhall Business), GM’s vehicle presence in Europe is smaller, but GM may still be affected by actions taken by regulators related both to Opel/Vauxhall vehicles sold before the sale of the Opel/Vauxhall Business as well as to other vehicles GM continues to sell in Europe. In the EU, increased scrutiny of compliance with emission standards may result in changes to these standards, as well as stricter interpretations or redefinition of these standards and more rigorous enforcement. For example, our former German subsidiary has participated in continuing discussions with German and European authorities concerning emissions control systems. Beyond this, as a part of the EU’s desire to accelerate the shift to sustainable mobility, the EU is looking to develop stricter emission standards (Euro 7) for all petrol and diesel cars, vans, lorries and buses, as well as reform CO2 standards, and place requirements on batteries to be used in EVs. For additional information, refer to Note 16 to our consolidated financial statements.

Automotive Fuel Economy and GHG Emissions In the U.S., NHTSA promulgates and enforces Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for three separate fleets: domestic cars, import cars and light-duty trucks. Manufacturers are subject to substantial civil penalties if they fail to meet the applicable CAFE standard in any model year, after considering all available credits for the preceding five model years, expected credits for the three succeeding model years and credits obtained from other manufacturers. In addition to federal CAFE standards, the EPA promulgates and enforces GHG emission standards. In March 2020, NHTSA and the EPA issued a rule setting fuel economy and GHG emission standards for light-duty vehicles through the 2026 model year. Those actions are currently being challenged through litigation; however, the litigation is currently held in abeyance as the agencies have since proposed new, more stringent light-duty CAFE and GHG standards. Though NHTSA and the EPA have previously issued joint CAFE and GHG standards, the agencies have now separately proposed, and the EPA has finalized, standards with differing stringency levels and affected model years, with the proposed CAFE standards addressing the 2024-2026 model years and the GHG standards addressing the 2023-2026 model years. NHTSA and the EPA also regulate the fuel efficiency and GHG emissions of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, imposing more stringent standards over time.

In addition, CARB has asserted the right to promulgate and enforce its own state GHG standards for motor vehicles, and other states have asserted the right to adopt CARB's standards. CARB regulations previously stated that compliance with the light-duty EPA GHG program is deemed compliance with CARB standards. However, in December 2018 CARB amended this regulation to state that, in the event the EPA were to alter federal GHG stringency, which it now has, compliance with the EPA's GHG emission standards will no longer be deemed compliance with CARB's separate requirements. In September 2019, NHTSA issued a rule asserting that California is preempted from regulating GHG emissions. Litigation challenging that rule is currently being held in abeyance, as the EPA has since proposed, and NHTSA has finalized, actions that could result in a restoration of California’s ability to promulgate and enforce its own state GHG standards. Depending on the outcome of the

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federal CAFE and GHG rulemakings and related litigation and the finality of CARB's regulatory amendment, in the future GM might be required to meet differing EPA GHG, California GHG and CAFE standards.

CARB has also imposed the requirement that increasing percentages of Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) must be sold in California. The Clean Air Act permits states to adopt California emission standards, and 14 have adopted the ZEV requirements. In September 2019, the EPA revoked the waiver it had granted to California that permitted its ZEV program, and NHTSA also asserted preemption of California's ZEV program. Litigation over EPA and NHTSA's actions is currently being held in abeyance, as EPA and NHTSA have since proposed actions that could result in a restoration of California’s ability to promulgate and enforce ZEV standards. Depending on any final agency action taken by the EPA and NHTSA, and/or the outcome of the related litigation, there is a possibility that additional U.S. jurisdictions could adopt California ZEV requirements in the future.

In Canada, light- and heavy-duty GHG regulations are currently patterned after the EPA GHG emission standards given the integrated nature of the auto sector between Canada and the United States. The Canadian government is conducting a mid-term review of its 2022 to 2025 model year light-duty GHG standards and is considering regulatory developments of the U.S. in this regard. In addition, the Canadian province of Quebec has ZEV requirements regulating the 2018 to 2025 model years largely based on California program requirements and the province of British Columbia’s similar ZEV regulations that were completed in July 2020 and cover the 2020 to 2039 model years. Both provinces are further updating their ZEV regulations and the Canadian federal government recently proposed to ban the sale of ICE vehicles in Canada beginning in 2035, although no specific draft regulations have been shared at this time.

China has two fuel economy requirements for passenger vehicles: an individual vehicle pass-fail type approval requirement and a fleet average fuel consumption requirement. With a focus on the fleet average fuel consumption requirement, the China Phase 5 launched in 2021 and full compliance is required by 2025. In addition, China has established a mandate that requires passenger car manufacturers to produce a certain volume of plug-in hybrid, battery electric and fuel cell vehicles, which are referred to as New Energy Vehicles (NEVs), to generate credits in 2019 and beyond. The number of credits per car is based on the level of electric range and energy efficiency, with the goal of increasing NEV volume penetrations and improving technological sophistication over time. Uncommitted NEV credits may be used to assist compliance with the fleet average fuel consumption requirement. China has issued NEV credit targets between 2019 and 2023 and is setting new NEV credit targets aimed at further increasing volumes of NEVs in 2024 and 2025. China has provided various levels of subsidies for NEVs, and certain subsidies have been extended to the end of 2022.

In Brazil, the Secretary of Industry and Development promulgates and enforces CAFE standards and has enforced a new CAFE program for the period October 2020 to September 2026 and October 2026 to September 2032 for light-duty and mid-size trucks and SUVs, including diesel vehicles, imposing more stringent standards for each period.

We have several options to comply with existing and potential new global regulations. Such options include increasing production and sale of certain vehicles, such as EVs, and curtailing production of less fuel efficient ICE vehicles; technology changes, including fuel consumption efficiency and engine upgrades; payment of penalties; and/or purchase of credits from third parties. We regularly evaluate our current and future product plans and strategies for compliance with fuel economy and GHG regulations.

We plan to be carbon neutral by 2040 in our global products and operations, supported by a commitment to science-based targets. In addition, the Company announced our vision of an all-electric future and our plan to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035. These targets align with our growth and transformation plan including our commitment to an all-electric future, which will be enabled by our Ultium platform and HYDROTEC technology as previously detailed. We also announced, in June 2021, our plans to increase our investment in EVs and AVs to more than $35.0 billion through 2025 to accelerate this transformation plan.

Industrial Environmental Control Our operations are subject to a wide range of environmental protection laws including those regulating air emissions, water discharge, waste management and environmental cleanup. Certain environmental statutes require that responsible parties fund remediation actions regardless of fault, legality of original disposal or ownership of a disposal site. Under certain circumstances these laws impose joint and several liability as well as liability for related damages to natural resources.

To mitigate the effects of our worldwide operations on the environment, including climate change, we are embracing sustainability programs focused on reducing operational GHG emissions, water consumption and discharge and waste disposal.

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In 2021, we launched our new global GM Zero Waste program, with a goal to divert waste from landfills and incinerators. For the year ended December 31, 2021, GM's facilities included in the global GM Zero Waste program diverted over 1.1 million metric tons of waste from landfills and incinerators through composting, reusing and recycling.

In addition to reducing our impact on the environment, our waste reduction commitments generate income from the sale of production by-products, reduce our use of raw materials and help to reduce the risks and financial liabilities associated with waste disposal.

We continue our efforts to increase our use of renewable energy, improve our energy efficiency and work to drive growth and scale of renewables. To that end, we have set a goal of meeting the electricity needs of our operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025 in the U.S., a goal we recently accelerated from 2030, and by 2035 globally.

Through December 31, 2021, we implemented projects and signed renewable energy contracts globally that brought our total renewable energy capacity to over one gigawatt by 2023, which represents approximately 75% of our U.S. electricity use and approximately 40% of our global electricity use. In 2019 and 2020, we executed two of our largest green tariffs to date with DTE Energy Company, sourcing 840,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy that began supplying us in early 2021 in phase 1 with the remainder expected in mid-2023 in phase 2. Additionally, in 2020 we executed our largest power purchase agreement to date, with 180 megawatts of solar electricity supplying our U.S. operations starting in 2023. We continue to seek opportunities for a diversified renewable energy portfolio including wind, solar and landfill gas, including executing a 28 megawatts solar green tariff with TVA to supply our Bowling Green Assembly Plant. In 2021, Energy Star certified two assembly plants and four buildings in the U.S. for superior energy management. We also met the EPA Energy Star Challenge for Industry (EPA Challenge) at five additional sites by reducing energy intensity an average of 15% at these sites within two years. To meet the EPA Challenge, industrial sites must reduce energy intensity by 10% within a five year period. In total, 69 GM-owned manufacturing sites have met the EPA Challenge, with many sites achieving the goal multiple times for a total of 132 recognitions. Additionally, we received recognition from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) of 50001 Ready status for 25 facilities. The U.S. DOE 50001 Ready program is a self-guided approach for facilities to establish an energy management system and self-attest to the structure of ISO 50001, a voluntary global standard for energy management systems in industrial, commercial and institutional facilities. These sustainability efforts reduce our operational expenses and are part of our approach to improve the sustainability of our operations by aligning our business strategy with aggressive environmental goals and reduction targets, collecting accurate data, and publicly reporting progress against our targets.

Chemical Regulations We continually monitor the implementation of chemical regulations to maintain compliance and evaluate their effect on our business, suppliers and the automotive industry.

Globally, governments continue to introduce new legislation and regulations related to the selection and use of chemicals by mandating broad prohibitions or restrictions and implementing vehicle interior air quality, green chemistry, life cycle analysis and product stewardship initiatives. These initiatives give broad regulatory authority to ban or restrict the use of certain chemical substances and potentially affect automobile manufacturers' responsibilities for vehicle components at the end of a vehicle's life, as well as chemical selection for product development and manufacturing. Global treaties and initiatives such as the Stockholm, Basel and Rotterdam Conventions on Chemicals and Waste and the Minamata Convention on Mercury, are driving chemical regulations across signatory countries. Increases in the use of circuit boards and other electronics may require additional assessment under the Restriction on Hazardous Substances and Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment directives. New European requirements require suppliers of parts and vehicles to the European market to disclose Substances of Concern in Parts.

Chemical regulations are increasing in North America. In the U.S., the EPA is moving forward with risk analysis and management of high priority chemicals under the authority of the 2016 Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. In addition, several U.S. states have chemical management regulations that can affect vehicle design and manufacturing such as chemical restriction and use requirements. Chemical restrictions and export controls in Canada continue to steadily progress under the Environment and Climate Change Canada's Chemical Management Plan to assess existing substances and implement risk management controls on any chemical deemed toxic.

These emerging laws and regulations will potentially lead to increases in costs and supply chain complexity. Manufacturers, including joint venture partners and suppliers, that do not comply with global and specific country regulations could be subject to civil penalties, production disruptions, or limitations on the sale of affected products. We believe we are materially in compliance with substantially all these requirements or expect to be materially in compliance by the required dates.

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Vehicle Safety

U.S. Requirements The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (the Safety Act) regulates the vehicles and items of motor vehicle equipment that we manufacture and sell. The Safety Act prohibits the sale in the United States of any new vehicle or equipment that does not conform to applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards established by NHTSA. Meeting or exceeding the many safety standards is costly as global compliance and non-governmental assessment requirements continue to evolve and grow more complex, and lack harmonization globally. The Safety Act further requires that if we or NHTSA determine a vehicle or an item of vehicle equipment does not comply with a safety standard, or that vehicle or equipment contains a defect that poses an unreasonable safety risk, we must conduct a safety recall to remedy that condition in the affected vehicles. Should we or NHTSA determine a safety defect or noncompliance issue exists with respect to any of our vehicles, the cost of such recall campaigns could be substantial.

Other National Requirements Outside of the U.S., many countries have established vehicle safety standards and regulations and are likely to adopt additional, more stringent requirements in the future. The European General Safety Regulation has introduced United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE) regulations, which are required for the European Type Approval process. Globally, governments generally have been adopting UN-ECE based regulations with some variations to address local concerns. Any difference between North American and UN-ECE based regulations can add complexity and costs to vehicle development, and we continue to support efforts to harmonize regulations to reduce complexity. New safety and recall requirements in various countries around the world, including in China, Brazil, and Gulf Cooperation Council countries, also may add substantial costs and complexity to our safety and field action activities globally. In Canada, vehicle regulatory requirements are currently aligned with U.S. regulations; however, under the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Act, recall thresholds are different and the Minister of Transport has broad powers to order manufacturers to submit a notice of defect or non-compliance when the Minister considers it to be in the interest of safety. Further, various governments are beginning to mandate e-Call and other features that can be market-specific and add complexity and increase our cost of compliance globally.

Crash Test Ratings and New Car Assessment Programs Organizations in various regions around the world, including in the U.S., rate and compare motor vehicles through various New Car Assessment Programs (NCAPs) to provide consumers and businesses with additional information about the safety of new vehicles. NCAPs use crash tests and other evaluations that are different than what is required by applicable regulations, and use stars to rate vehicle safety, with five stars awarded for the highest rating and one for the lowest. Achieving high NCAP ratings, which can vary by country and region, can add complexity and cost to vehicles.

Website Access to Our Reports Our internet website address is https://www.gm.com. In addition to the information about us and our subsidiaries contained in this 2021 Form 10-K, information about us can be found on our website including information on our corporate governance principles and practices. Our Investor Relations website at https://investor.gm.com contains a significant amount of information about us, including financial and other information for investors. We encourage investors to visit our website, as we frequently update and post new information about our company on our website and it is possible that this information could be deemed to be material information. Our website and information included in or linked to our website are not part of this 2021 Form 10-K.

Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act), are available free of charge through our website as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding our filings at https://www.sec.gov.

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Item 1A. Risk Factors

We have listed below the most material risk factors applicable to us. These risk factors are not necessarily in the order of importance or probability of occurrence:

Risks related to our competition and strategy

If we do not deliver new products, services, technologies and customer experiences in response to increased competition and changing consumer preferences in the automotive industry, our business could suffer. We believe that the automotive industry will continue to experience significant change in the coming years, particularly as traditional automotive original equipment manufacturers shift resources to the development of EVs. In addition to our traditional competitors, we must also be responsive to the entrance of start-ups and other non-traditional competitors in the automotive industry. These new competitors, as well as established industry participants, are disrupting the historic business model of our industry through the introduction of new technologies, products, services, direct-to-consumer sales channels, methods of transportation and vehicle ownership. To successfully execute our long-term strategy, we must continue to develop new products and services, including products and services that are outside of our historically core ICE business, such as EVs and AVs, software-enabled connected services and other new businesses.

Our vehicles and connected services increasingly rely on software and hardware that is highly technical and complex. The process of designing and developing new technology, products and services is costly and uncertain and requires extensive capital investment and the ability to retain and recruit the best talent. If our access to capital were to become significantly constrained, if costs of capital increased significantly, or if our ability to raise capital is challenged relative to our peers, in each case including as a result of any constraints on lending due to concerns about climate change, our ability to execute on our strategic plans could be adversely affected. Further, the market for highly skilled workers and leaders in our industry is extremely competitive. Failure to attract, hire, develop, motivate and retain highly qualified and diverse employees could disrupt our operations and adversely affect our strategic plans.

There can be no assurance that advances in technology will occur in a timely or feasible way, if at all, that others will not acquire similar or superior technologies sooner than we do, or that we will acquire technologies on an exclusive basis or at a significant price advantage. Further, if we are unable to prevent or effectively remedy errors, bugs, vulnerabilities or defects in our software and hardware, or fail to deploy updates to our software properly, or if we do not adequately prepare for and respond to new kinds of technological innovations, market developments and changing customer needs, our sales, profitability and long-term competitiveness may be harmed.

Our ability to maintain profitability is dependent upon our ability to timely fund and introduce new and improved vehicle models, including EVs, that are able to attract a sufficient number of consumers. We operate in a very competitive industry with market participants routinely introducing new and improved vehicle models and features designed to meet rapidly evolving consumer expectations. Producing new and improved vehicle models, including EVs, that preserve our reputation for designing, building and selling safe, high-quality cars, trucks and SUVs is critical to our long-term profitability. Successful launches of our new vehicles are critical to our short-term profitability. The new vehicle development process can take two years or more, and a number of factors may lengthen that time period. Because of this product development cycle and the various elements that may contribute to consumers’ acceptance of new vehicle designs, including competitors’ product introductions, technological innovations, fuel prices, general economic conditions, regulatory developments, transportation infrastructure and changes in quality, safety, reliability and styling demands and preferences, an initial product concept or design may not result in a saleable vehicle or a vehicle that generates sales in sufficient quantities and at high enough prices to be profitable. Our high proportion of fixed costs, both due to our significant investment in property, plant and equipment as well as other requirements of our collective bargaining agreements, which limit our flexibility to adjust personnel costs to changes in demands for our products, may further exacerbate the risks associated with incorrectly assessing demand for our vehicles.

Our long-term strategy is dependent upon our ability to profitably deliver a broad portfolio of EVs. The production and profitable sale of EVs has become increasingly important to our long-term business as we accelerate our transition to an all-electric future. In 2021, we increased our commitment to investments in EV and AV technologies to more than $35.0 billion from 2020 through 2025, with plans to launch more than 30 new EV models globally across several price points in that timeframe. Our EV strategy is dependent on our ability to deliver a broad portfolio of high-quality EVs that are competitive and meet consumer demands; reduce the costs associated with the manufacture of EVs, particularly with respect to batteries; increase vehicle range and the energy density of our batteries; license and monetize our proprietary platforms and related innovations; successfully invest in new technologies relative to our peers; develop new software and services; and leverage our scale, manufacturing capabilities and synergies with existing ICE vehicles.

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In addition, consumer adoption of EVs will be critical to the success of our strategy. Consumer adoption of EVs could be impacted by numerous factors, including the breadth of the portfolio of EVs available; perceptions about EV features, quality, safety, performance and cost relative to ICE vehicles; the range over which EVs may be driven on a full battery charge; the proliferation of charging infrastructure, in particular with respect to public EV charging stations; cost and availability of high fuel-economy ICE vehicles; volatility, or a sustained decrease, in the cost of petroleum-based fuel; failure by governments and other third parties to make the investments necessary to make infrastructure improvements, such as greater availability of cleaner energy grids and EV charging stations, and to provide economic incentives promoting the adoption of EVs; and negative feedback from stakeholders impacting investor and consumer confidence in our company or industry. If we are unable to successfully deliver on our EV strategy, it could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and growth prospects, and could negatively impact our brand and reputation.

Our near-term profitability is dependent upon the success of our current line of full-size ICE SUVs and full-size ICE pickup trucks. While we offer a broad portfolio of cars, crossovers, SUVs and trucks, and we have announced significant plans to design, build and sell a broad portfolio of EVs, we currently recognize higher profit margins on our full-size ICE SUVs and full-size ICE trucks. Our near-term success is dependent upon our ability to sell higher margin vehicles in sufficient volumes. We also plan to use the cash generated by our ICE vehicles to fund our growth strategy, including the development and sale of EVs and AVs. Any near-term shift in consumer preferences toward smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, whether as a result of increases in the price of oil or any sustained shortage of oil, including as a result of global political instability, concerns about climate change, including any constraints related to lending on GHG-emitting products, or other reasons, could weaken the demand for our higher margin vehicles. More stringent fuel economy regulations could also impact our ability to sell these vehicles or could result in additional costs associated with these vehicles. See “Our operations and products are subject to extensive laws, regulations and policies, including those related to vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards, which can significantly increase our costs and affect how we do business.”

We operate in a highly competitive industry that has historically had excess manufacturing capacity, and attempts by our competitors to sell more vehicles could have a significant negative effect on our vehicle pricing, market share and operating results. The global automotive industry is highly competitive in terms of the quality, innovation, new technologies, pricing, fuel economy, reliability, safety, customer service and financial services offered. Additionally, overall manufacturing capacity in the industry has historically far exceeded demand. In addition, we have made, and plan to continue to make, significant investments in EV manufacturing capacity based on our expectations for EV demand, which is subject to various risks and uncertainties as described above. Many manufacturers, including GM, have relatively high fixed labor costs as well as limitations on their ability to close facilities and reduce fixed costs, often as a result of collective bargaining agreements. In light of any excess capacity and high fixed costs, many industry participants have attempted to sell more vehicles by providing subsidized financing or leasing programs, offering marketing incentives or reducing vehicle prices. As a result, we may be required to offer similar incentives that may result in vehicle prices that do not offset our costs, including any cost increases or the impact of adverse currency fluctuations, which could affect our profitability. Our competitors may also seek to benefit from economies of scale by consolidating or entering into other strategic agreements such as alliances or joint ventures intended to enhance their competitiveness.

Manufacturers in countries that have lower production costs, such as China and India, have become competitors in key emerging markets and have announced their intention to export their products to established markets as a low-cost alternative to established entry-level automobiles. In addition, foreign governments may decide to implement tax and other policies that favor their domestic manufacturers at the expense of international manufacturers, including GM and its joint venture partners. These actions have had, and are expected to continue to have, a significant negative effect on our vehicle pricing, market share and operating results in these markets.

Our AV strategy is dependent upon our ability to successfully mitigate unique technological, operational and regulatory risks. GM Cruise Holdings LLC (Cruise Holdings), our majority-owned subsidiary, is responsible for the development and commercialization of AV technology. Our AV operations are capital intensive and subject to a variety of risks inherent with the development of new technologies, including our ability to continue to develop self-driving software and hardware, such as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors and other components; access to sufficient capital; risks related to the manufacture of purpose-built AVs; and significant competition from both established automotive companies and technology companies, some of which may have more resources and capital to devote to AV technologies than we do. In addition, we face risks related to the commercial deployment of AVs on our targeted timeline or at all, including consumer acceptance, achievement of adequate safety and other performance standards and compliance with uncertain, evolving and potentially conflicting federal and state or provincial regulations. To the extent accidents, cybersecurity breaches or other adverse events associated with our autonomous driving systems occur, we could be subject to liability, reputational harm, government scrutiny and further regulation, and it could deter consumer adoption of AV technology. Any of the foregoing could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and growth prospects.

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We are subject to risks associated with climate change, including increased regulation of GHG emissions, changing consumer preferences and other risks related to our transition to EVs and the potential increased impacts of severe weather events on our operations and infrastructure. Increasing attention to climate change, increasing societal expectations on companies to address climate change and changes in consumer preferences may result in increased costs, reduced demand for our products, reduced profits, risks associated with new regulatory requirements and the potential for increased litigation and governmental investigations. Climate change regulations at the federal, state or local level or in international jurisdictions could require us to further limit emissions associated with customer use of products we sell, change our manufacturing processes or product portfolio or undertake other activities that may require us to incur additional expense, which may be material. These requirements may increase the cost of, and/or diminish demand for, our ICE vehicles. See “Our operations and products are subject to extensive laws, regulations and policies, including those related to vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards, which can significantly increase our costs and affect how we do business.”

Part of our strategy to address these risks includes our transition to EVs, which presents additional risks, including reduced demand for, and therefore profits from, our ICE vehicles, which we plan to use to fund our growth strategy; higher costs related to EV technologies impacting profitability compared to ICE vehicles; and risks related to the success of our EV strategy. See “Our long-term strategy is dependent upon our ability to profitably deliver a broad portfolio of EVs” and “Our near-term profitability is dependent upon the success of our current line of full-size ICE SUVs and full-size ICE pickup trucks.”

Finally, increased intensity, frequency or duration of storms, droughts or other severe weather events as a result of climate change may disrupt our production and the production, logistics, cost and procurement of products from our suppliers and timely delivery of vehicles to customers, and could negatively impact working conditions at our plants and those of our suppliers. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Risks related to our operations

Our business is highly dependent upon global automobile market sales volume, which can be volatile. Because we have a high proportion of relatively fixed structural costs, small changes in sales volume can have a disproportionately large effect on our profitability. A number of economic and market conditions drive changes in new vehicle sales, including disruptions in the new vehicle supply chain, the availability and prices of used vehicles, levels of unemployment and inflation, availability of affordable financing, fluctuations in the cost of fuel, consumer confidence and demand for vehicles, political unrest or uncertainty, the occurrence of a contagious disease or illness, including COVID-19, barriers to trade and other global economic conditions. For a discussion of economic and market trends, see the "Overview" section in Part II, Item 7. MD&A. Any significant decrease in new vehicle sales could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

High prices and uncertain availability of commodities, raw materials or other inputs used by us and our suppliers, or instability in logistics and related costs, could negatively impact our profitability. Increases in prices for commodities, raw materials or other inputs that we and our suppliers use in manufacturing products, systems, components and parts, such as steel, precious metals, non-ferrous metals, critical minerals or other similar raw materials, or increases in logistics and related costs, may lead to higher production costs for parts, components and vehicles. In addition, any increase in the cost of critical materials for our EV propulsion systems, including lithium, nickel, cobalt and certain rare earth metals, could lead to higher production costs for our EVs and could impede our ability to successfully deliver on our EV strategy. Further, increasing global demand for, and uncertain supply of, such materials could disrupt our or our suppliers’ ability to obtain such materials in a timely manner and/or could lead to increased costs. Geopolitical risk, fluctuations in supply and demand, any weakening of the U.S. dollar and other economic and political factors may continue to create pricing pressure for commodities, raw materials and other inputs. These inflationary pressures could, in turn, negatively impact our future profitability because we may not be able to pass all of those costs on to our customers or require our suppliers to absorb such costs.

Our business in China subjects us to unique operational, competitive and regulatory risks. Pursuing opportunities in the Chinese market is an important component of our global growth strategy. Our business in China is subject to aggressive competition from many of the largest global manufacturers and numerous domestic manufacturers as well as non-traditional market participants, such as domestic technology companies. In addition, our success in China depends upon our ability to adequately address unique market and consumer preferences driven by advancements related to EVs, infotainment, software-enabled connected services and other new technologies. Our ability to fully deploy our technologies in China may be impacted by evolving laws and regulations in the U.S. and China. Increased competition, continued U.S.-China trade tensions or weakening economic conditions in China, among other factors, may result in cost increases, price reductions, reduced sales, profitability and margins, and challenges to gaining or holding market share.

Certain risks and uncertainties of doing business in China are solely within the control of the Chinese government, and Chinese law regulates the scope of our investments and business conducted within China. In order to maintain access to the Chinese market, we may be required to comply with significant technical and other regulatory requirements that are unique to the Chinese market, at times with challenging lead times. These actions may increase the cost of doing business in China or

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limit how and under what conditions we may do business in China, which could materially and adversely affect our profitability and financial condition.

We benefit from many ongoing strategic business relationships, and a significant amount of our operations are conducted by joint ventures, which we cannot operate solely for our benefit. We are engaged in many strategic business relationships, and we expect that such arrangements will continue to be an important factor in the growth and success of our business, particularly in light of industry consolidation. However, there are no assurances that we will be able to identify or secure suitable business relationships in the future or that our competitors will not capitalize on such opportunities before we do, or that any strategic business relationships that we enter into will be successful. If we are unable to successfully source and execute on strategic business relationships in the future, our overall growth could be impaired, and our business, prospects and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

In addition, many of our operations, primarily in China and Korea as well as our battery manufacturing operations with LG Energy Solution, are carried out by joint ventures. In joint ventures we share ownership and management of a company with one or more parties who may not have the same goals, strategies, priorities or resources as we do and may compete with us outside the joint venture. Joint ventures are intended to be operated for the benefit of all co-owners, rather than for our exclusive benefit. Operating a business as a joint venture often requires additional organizational formalities as well as time-consuming procedures for sharing information and making decisions that must further take into consideration our partners' interests. In joint ventures we are required to foster our relationships with our co-owners as well as promote the overall success of the joint venture, and if a co-owner changes, relationships deteriorate or strategic objectives diverge, our success in the joint venture may be materially adversely affected. Further, the benefits from a successful joint venture are shared among the co-owners, therefore we do not receive all the benefits from our successful joint ventures.

In addition, because we share ownership and management with one or more parties, we may have limited control over the actions of a joint venture, particularly when we own a minority interest. As a result, we may be unable to prevent violations of applicable laws or other misconduct by a joint venture or the failure to satisfy contractual obligations by one or more parties. Moreover, a joint venture may not follow the same requirements regarding compliance, internal controls and internal control over financial reporting that we follow. To the extent another party makes decisions that negatively impact the joint venture or internal control issues arise within the joint venture, we may have to take responsive actions, or we may be subject to penalties, fines or other punitive actions for these activities.

The international scale and footprint of our operations expose us to additional risks. We manufacture, sell and service products globally and rely upon an integrated global supply chain to deliver the raw materials, components, systems and parts that we need to manufacture our products. Our global operations subject us to extensive domestic and foreign legal and regulatory requirements, and a variety of other political, economic and regulatory risks, including: (1) changes in government leadership; (2) changes in trade compliance, labor, employment, tax, privacy, environmental and other laws, regulations or government policies impacting our overall business model or practices or restricting our ability to manufacture, purchase or sell products consistent with market demand and our business objectives; (3) political pressures to change any aspect of our business model or practices or that impair our ability to source raw materials, services, components, systems and parts, or manufacture products on competitive terms in a manner consistent with our business objectives; (4) political uncertainty, instability, civil unrest or government controls over certain sectors; (5) political and economic tensions between governments and changes in international economic policies, including restrictions on the repatriation of dividends or in the export of technology, especially between China and the U.S.; (6) changes to customs requirements or procedures (e.g., inspections) or new or higher tariffs, for example, on products imported into or exported from the U.S., including under U.S. or other trade laws or measures; (7) new non-tariff barriers to entry or domestic preference procurement requirements, or enforcement of, changes to, withdrawals from or impediments to implementing free trade agreements (for example, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement), or preferences of foreign nationals for domestically manufactured products; (8) changes in foreign currency exchange rates, particularly in Brazil and Argentina, and interest rates; (9) economic downturns or significant changes in conditions in the countries in which we operate; (10) differing local product preferences and product requirements, including government certification requirements related to, among other things, fuel economy, vehicle emissions, EVs and AVs, connected services and safety; (11) impact of changes to and compliance with U.S. and foreign countries’ export controls, economic sanctions and other similar measures; (12) liabilities resulting from U.S. and foreign laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, those related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and certain other anti-corruption laws; (13) differing labor regulations, agreements, requirements and union relationships; (14) differing dealer and franchise regulations and relationships; (15) difficulties in obtaining financing in foreign countries for local operations; and (16) natural disasters, public health crises, including the occurrence of a contagious disease or illness, such as COVID-19, and other catastrophic events.

Any significant disruption at one of our manufacturing facilities could disrupt our production schedule. We assemble vehicles at various facilities around the world. Our facilities are typically designed to produce particular models for particular geographic markets. No single facility is designed to manufacture our full range of vehicles. In some cases, certain facilities produce products, systems, components and parts that disproportionately contribute a greater degree to our profitability than

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others and create significant interdependencies among manufacturing facilities around the world. Should these or other facilities become unavailable either temporarily or permanently for any number of reasons, including labor disruptions, supply chain disruptions, the occurrence of a contagious disease or illness, such as COVID-19, or catastrophic weather events, whether or not as a result of climate change, the inability to manufacture at the affected facility may result in harm to our reputation, increased costs, lower revenues and the loss of customers. In particular, substantially all of our hourly employees are represented by unions and covered by collective bargaining agreements that must be negotiated from time-to-time, including at the local facility level, which increases our risk of work stoppages. We may not be able to easily shift production to other facilities or to make up for lost production. Any new facility needed to replace an inoperable manufacturing facility would need to comply with the necessary regulatory requirements, need to satisfy our specialized manufacturing requirements and require specialized equipment.

Any disruption in our suppliers’ operations could disrupt our production schedule. Our automotive operations are dependent upon the continued ability of our suppliers to deliver the systems, components, raw materials and parts that we need to manufacture our products. Our use of “just-in-time” manufacturing processes allows us to maintain minimal inventory. As a result, our ability to maintain production is dependent upon our suppliers delivering sufficient quantities of systems, components, raw materials and parts on time to meet our production schedules. In some instances, we purchase systems, components, raw materials and parts that are ultimately derived from a single source and may be at an increased risk for supply disruptions. Any number of factors, including labor disruptions, catastrophic weather events, the occurrence of a contagious disease or illness, such as COVID-19, contractual or other disputes, unfavorable economic or industry conditions, delivery delays or other performance problems or financial difficulties or solvency problems, could disrupt our suppliers’ operations and lead to uncertainty in our supply chain or cause supply disruptions for us, which could, in turn, disrupt our operations, including the production of certain higher margin vehicles. If the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread or re-emerges and results in a prolonged period of travel, commercial, social and other similar restrictions, we could experience continued and/or additional global supply disruptions. If we experience supply disruptions, we may not be able to develop alternate sourcing quickly. Any disruption of our production schedule caused by an unexpected shortage of systems, components, raw materials or parts even for a relatively short period of time could cause us to alter production schedules, increase work-in-process inventory or suspend production entirely, which could cause a loss of revenues or an increase in working capital, which would adversely affect our profitability and financial condition.

In particular, a global semiconductor supply shortage has had, and is continuing to have, wide-ranging effects across multiple industries, particularly the automotive industry, and it has impacted multiple suppliers that incorporate semiconductors into the parts they supply to us. As a result, the semiconductor supply shortage has had, and depending on how long it persists, could continue to have, a material impact on our operations.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the global economy may disrupt our business and operations, which could materially adversely impact our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations. Pandemics, epidemics or disease outbreaks in the U.S. or globally may disrupt our business, which could materially affect our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity and future expectations. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused, and is continuing to cause, significant disruption to the global economy, including the automotive industry, and has had a material impact on our business. However, the full extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic will impact our operations will depend on future developments, including the duration and severity of the pandemic, any subsequent outbreaks of the virus or any related variants and the efficacy, availability and adoption of vaccines. Future developments are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence and may adversely impact our global supply chain and global manufacturing operations and cause us to again suspend our operations in the U.S. and elsewhere. In particular, if the COVID-19 pandemic continues or re-emerges, particularly in North America where our profits are most concentrated, resulting in a prolonged period of travel, commercial, social and other similar restrictions, we could experience among other things: (1) continued or additional global supply disruptions, including a delayed recovery from the global semiconductor supply shortage; (2) labor disruptions; (3) an inability to manufacture; (4) an inability to sell to our customers; (5) a decline in showroom traffic and customer demand during and following the pandemic; (6) customer defaults on automobile loans and leases; (7) lower than expected pricing on vehicles sold at auction; and (8) an impaired ability to access credit and the capital markets. We may also be subject to enhanced legal risks, including potential litigation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also have substantial cash requirements going forward, including: (1) ongoing cash costs including payments associated with previously announced vehicle recalls, the settlements of multi-district litigation and other recall-related contingencies, payments to service debt and other long-term obligations, including mandatory contributions to our pension plans; and (2) capital expenditures and payments for engineering and product development activities. Our ability to meet these cash requirements may be negatively impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Any resulting financial impact or the duration of such impact cannot be reasonably estimated at this time, but the COVID-19 pandemic could have a material impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations going forward.

We may continue to restructure our operations in the U.S. and various other countries and initiate additional cost reduction actions, but we may not succeed in doing so. Since 2017, we have undertaken restructuring actions to lower our operating costs in response to difficult market and operating conditions in various parts of the world, including the U.S.,

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Canada, Korea, Southeast Asia, India, Africa, Australia and New Zealand and Europe. As we continue to assess our performance throughout our regions, we may take additional restructuring actions to rationalize our operations, which may result in material asset write-downs or impairments and reduce our profitability in the periods incurred. In addition, these restructuring actions subject us to increased risks of labor unrest or strikes, supplier, dealer, or other third-party litigation, regulator claims or proceedings, negative publicity and business disruption. Failure to realize anticipated savings or benefits from our restructuring and/or cost reduction actions could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity and cash flows.

Risks related to our intellectual property, cybersecurity, information technology and data management practices

Competitors may independently develop products and services similar to ours, and there are no guarantees that GM’s intellectual property rights would prevent competitors from independently developing or selling those products and services. There may be instances where, notwithstanding our intellectual property position, competitive products or services may impact the value of our brands and other intangible assets, and our business may be adversely affected. Moreover, although GM takes reasonable steps to maintain the confidentiality of GM proprietary information, there can be no assurance that such efforts will completely deter or prevent misappropriation or improper use of our intellectual property. We sometimes face attempts to gain unauthorized access to our information technology networks and systems for the purpose of improperly acquiring our trade secrets or confidential business information. The theft or unauthorized use or publication of our trade secrets and other confidential business information as a result of such an incident could adversely affect our competitive position. In addition, we may be the target of patent enforcement actions by third parties, including aggressive and opportunistic enforcement claims by non-practicing entities. Regardless of the merit of such claims, responding to infringement claims can be expensive and time-consuming. Although we have taken steps to mitigate such risks, if we are found to have infringed any third-party intellectual property rights, we could be required to pay substantial damages, or we could be enjoined from offering some of our products and services. In addition, to prevent unauthorized use of our intellectual property, it may be necessary to prosecute actions for infringement, misappropriation or other violation of our intellectual property against third parties. Any such action could result in significant costs and diversion of our resources and management’s attention, and there can be no assurance that we will be successful in any such action.

Security breaches and other disruptions to information technology systems and networked products, including connected vehicles, owned or maintained by us, GM Financial, or third-parties, such as vendors or suppliers, could interfere with our operations and could compromise the confidentiality of private customer data or our proprietary information. We rely upon information technology systems and manufacture networked and connected products, some of which are managed by third parties, to process, transmit and store electronic information and to manage or support a variety of our business processes, activities and products. Additionally, we and GM Financial collect and store sensitive data, including intellectual property and proprietary business information (including that of our dealers and suppliers), as well as personally identifiable information of our customers and employees, in data centers and on information technology networks (including networks that may be controlled or maintained by third parties). The secure operation of these systems and products, and the processing and maintenance of the information processed by these systems and products, is critical to our business operations and strategy. Further, customers using our systems rely on the security of our infrastructure, including hardware and other elements provided by third parties, to ensure the reliability of our products and the protection of their data. We also face the risk of operational disruption, failure, termination or capacity constraints of any of the third parties that facilitate our business activities, including vendors, service providers, suppliers, customers, counterparties, exchanges, clearing agents, clearinghouses or other financial intermediaries. Such parties and other third parties who provide us services or with whom we communicate could also be the source of a cyberattack on, or breach of, our operational systems, network, data or infrastructure. Despite our security measures and business continuity plans, our information technology systems and networked and connected products may be vulnerable to damage, disruptions or shutdowns caused by attacks by hackers, computer viruses, malware (including “ransomware”), phishing attacks or breaches due to errors or malfeasance by employees, contractors and others who have access to these systems and products. The occurrence of any of these events could compromise the confidentiality, operational integrity and accessibility of these systems and products and the data that resides within them. Similarly, such an occurrence could result in the compromise or loss of the information processed by these systems and products. Such events could result in, among other things, the loss of proprietary data, interruptions or delays in our business operations and damage to our reputation. In addition, such events could increase the risk of claims alleging that we are non-compliant with applicable laws or regulations, subjecting us to potential liability or regulatory penalties and related costs under laws protecting the privacy of personal information; disrupt our operations; or reduce the competitive advantage we hope to derive from our investment in advanced technologies. Various events described above have occurred in the past and may occur in the future. Although impacts of past events have been immaterial, the impacts of such events in the future may be material.

Security breaches and other disruptions of our in-vehicle systems could impact the safety of our customers and reduce confidence in GM and our products. Our vehicles contain complex information technology systems. These systems control various vehicle functions including engine, transmission, safety, steering, navigation, acceleration, braking, window, door lock functions and battery and electric motors. We have designed, implemented and tested security measures intended to prevent

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unauthorized access to these systems. However, hackers have reportedly attempted, and may attempt in the future, to gain unauthorized access to modify, alter and use such systems to gain control of, or to change, our vehicles’ functionality, user interface and performance characteristics, or to gain access to data stored in or generated by the vehicle. Any unauthorized access to or control of our vehicles or their systems could adversely impact the safety of our customers or result in legal claims or proceedings, liability or regulatory penalties. Laws that would permit third-party access to vehicle data and related systems could expose our vehicles and vehicle systems to third-party access without appropriate security measures in place, leading to new safety and security risks for our customers and reducing customer trust and confidence in our products. In addition, regardless of their veracity, reports of unauthorized access to our vehicles or their systems could negatively affect our brand and harm our reputation, which could adversely impact our business and operating results.

Our enterprise data practices, including the collection, use, sharing and security of the Personal Identifiable Information of our customers, employees and suppliers, are subject to increasingly complex and restrictive regulations in all key market regions. Under these regulations, the failure to maintain compliant data practices could result in consumer complaints and regulatory inquiry, resulting in civil or criminal penalties, as well as brand impact or other harm to our business. In addition, increased consumer sensitivity to real or perceived failures in maintaining acceptable data practices could damage our reputation and deter current and potential users or customers from using our products and services. The cost of compliance with these laws and regulations will be high and is likely to increase in the future. The growing patchwork of state and country regulations imposes burdensome obligations on companies to quickly respond to consumer requests, such as requests to delete, disclose and stop selling personal information, with significant fines for noncompliance. Complying with these new laws has significantly increased, and may continue to increase, our operating costs and is driving increased complexity in our operations.

Risks related to government regulations and litigation

Our operations and products are subject to extensive laws, regulations and policies, including those related to vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards, which can significantly increase our costs and affect how we do business. We are significantly affected by governmental regulations on a global basis that can increase costs related to the production of our vehicles and affect our product portfolio, particularly regulations relating to fuel economy standards and GHG emissions. Meeting or exceeding the requirements of these regulations is costly, often technologically challenging and may require phase-out of internal combustion propulsion in certain major jurisdictions, and these standards are often not harmonized across jurisdictions. We anticipate that the number and extent of these and other regulations, laws and policies, and the related costs and changes to our product portfolio, may increase significantly in the future, primarily motivated by efforts to reduce GHG emissions. Specifically, fuel economy and GHG emission regulations at the federal, state or local level or in international jurisdictions could require us to further limit the sale of certain profitable products, subsidize the sale of less profitable ones, change our manufacturing processes, pay penalties or undertake other activities that may require us to incur additional expense, which may be material. These requirements may increase the cost of, and/or diminish demand for, our vehicles. These regulatory requirements, among others, could significantly affect our plans for global product development and, given the uncertainty surrounding enforcement and regulatory definitions and interpretations, may result in substantial costs, including civil or criminal penalties. In addition, an evolving but un-harmonized emissions and fuel economy regulatory framework that could include specific sales mandates may limit or dictate the types of vehicles we sell and where we sell them, which can affect our revenues. Refer to the “Environmental and Regulatory Matters” section of Item 1. Business for further information on regulatory and environmental requirements.

We expect that to comply with fuel economy and GHG emission standards and mandates to sell specific volumes of ZEV in certain jurisdictions, we will be required to sell a significant volume of EVs, and potentially develop and implement new technologies for conventional internal combustion engines, all of which will require substantial investment and expense. There are limits on our ability to achieve fuel economy improvements over a given time frame, primarily relating to the cost and effectiveness of available technologies, lack of sufficient consumer acceptance of new technologies and of changes in vehicle mix, lack of willingness of consumers to absorb the additional costs of new technologies, the appropriateness (or lack thereof) of certain technologies for use in particular vehicles, the widespread availability (or lack thereof) of supporting infrastructure for new technologies, especially for EVs, and the human, engineering and financial resources necessary to deploy new technologies across a wide range of products and powertrains in a short time. There is no assurance that we will be able to produce and sell vehicles that use such new technologies on a profitable basis or that our customers will purchase such vehicles in the quantities necessary for us to comply with current or future regulatory requirements.

In the current uncertain regulatory framework, compliance costs for which we may be responsible and that are not reasonably estimable could be substantial. Alleged violations of fuel economy or emission standards could result in legal proceedings, the recall of one or more of our products, negotiated remedial actions, fines, restricted product offerings or a combination of any of those items. Any of these actions could have a material adverse effect on our profitability, financial condition and operations, including facility idling, reduced employment, increased costs and loss of revenue.

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In addition, many of our advanced technologies, including AVs, present novel issues with which domestic and foreign regulators have only limited experience, and will be subject to evolving regulatory frameworks. Any current or future regulations in these areas could impede the successful commercialization of these technologies and impact whether and how these technologies are designed and integrated into our products, and may ultimately subject us to increased costs and uncertainty.

We could be materially adversely affected by unusual or significant litigation, governmental investigations or other proceedings. We are subject to legal proceedings in the U.S. and elsewhere involving various issues, including product liability lawsuits, warranty litigation, class action litigations alleging product defects, emissions litigation, stockholder litigation, labor and employment litigation and claims and actions arising from restructurings and divestitures of operations and assets. In addition, we are subject to governmental proceedings and investigations. A negative outcome in one or more of these legal proceedings could result in the imposition of damages, including punitive damages, fines, reputational harm, civil lawsuits and criminal penalties, interruptions of business, modification of business practices, equitable remedies and other sanctions against us or our personnel as well as legal and other costs, all of which may be significant. For a further discussion of these matters refer to Note 16 to our consolidated financial statements.

The costs and effect on our reputation of product safety recalls and alleged defects in products and services could materially adversely affect our business. Government safety standards require manufacturers to remedy certain product safety defects through recall campaigns and vehicle repurchases. Under these standards, we could be subject to civil or criminal penalties or may incur various costs, including significant costs for repairs made at no cost to the consumer. The costs we incur in connection with these recalls typically include the cost of the part being replaced and labor to remove and replace the defective part. The costs to complete a recall could be exacerbated to the extent that such action relates to a global platform, such as the Chevrolet Bolt EV recall. Concerns about the safety of our products, including advanced technologies like AVs, whether raised internally or by regulators or consumer advocates, and whether or not based on scientific evidence or supported by data, can result in product delays, recalls, field actions, lost sales, governmental investigations, regulatory action, private claims, lawsuits and settlements and reputational damage. These circumstances can also result in damage to brand image, brand equity and consumer trust in our products and ability to lead the disruption occurring in the automotive industry.

We currently source a variety of systems, components, raw materials and parts from third parties. From time to time these items may have performance or quality issues that could harm our reputation and cause us to incur significant costs, particularly if the affected items relate to global platforms or involve defects that are identified years after production. Our ability to recover costs associated with recalls or other campaigns caused by parts or components purchased from suppliers may be limited by the suppliers’ financial condition or a number of other reasons or defenses.

We may incur additional tax expense or become subject to additional tax exposure. We are subject to the tax laws and regulations of the U.S. and numerous other jurisdictions in which we do business. Many judgments are required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes and other tax liabilities, and we are regularly under audit by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities, which may not agree with our tax positions. In addition, our tax liabilities are subject to other significant risks and uncertainties, including those arising from potential changes in laws and regulations in the countries in which we do business, the possibility of adverse determinations with respect to the application of existing laws, changes in our business or structure and changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities. Any unfavorable resolution of these and other uncertainties may have a significant adverse impact on our tax rate and results of operations. If our tax expense were to increase, or if the ultimate determination of our taxes owed is for an amount in excess of amounts previously accrued, our operating results, cash flows and financial condition could be adversely affected.

Risks related to Automotive Financing - GM Financial

We rely on GM Financial to provide financial services to our customers and dealers. GM Financial faces a number of business, economic and financial risks that could impair its access to capital and negatively affect its business and operations, which in turn could impede its ability to provide leasing and financing to customers and commercial lending to our dealers. Any reduction in GM Financial’s ability to provide such financial services would negatively affect our efforts to support additional sales of our vehicles and expand our market penetration among customers and dealers.

The primary factors that could adversely affect GM Financial’s business and operations and reduce its ability to provide financing services at competitive rates include the sufficiency, availability and cost of sources of financing, including credit facilities, securitization programs and secured and unsecured debt issuances; the performance of loans and leases in its portfolio, which could be materially affected by charge-offs, delinquencies and prepayments; wholesale auction values of used vehicles; vehicle return rates and the residual value performance on vehicles GM Financial leases to customers; fluctuations in interest rates and currencies; competition for customers from commercial banks, credit unions and other financing and leasing companies; and changes to regulation, supervision, enforcement and licensing across various jurisdictions.

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In addition, GM Financial has certain floating-rate obligations, hedging transactions and floating-rate dealer loans that determine their applicable interest rate or payment amount by reference to the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, has announced that it will no longer persuade or compel banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR after 2021. In March 2021, the ICE Benchmark Administration Limited, the administrator of LIBOR, extended the transition dates of certain LIBOR tenors (including all U.S. Dollar LIBOR tenors other than one-week and two-month U.S. Dollar LIBOR tenors) to June 30, 2023, after which LIBOR reference rates will cease to be provided. Despite this deferral, the LIBOR administrator has advised that no new contracts using U.S. Dollar LIBOR should be entered into after December 31, 2021. It is unknown whether any banks will continue to voluntarily submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR, or whether LIBOR will continue to be published by its administrator based on these submissions or on any other basis, after such dates. At this time, it is not possible to predict the effect that these developments or any discontinuance, modification or other reforms may have on LIBOR, other benchmarks or floating-rate debt instruments, including GM Financial’s floating-rate debt. Any such discontinuance, modification, alternative reference rates or other reforms may materially adversely affect interest rates on GM Financial’s current indebtedness. There is a risk that the discontinuation of LIBOR will impact GM Financial's ability to manage interest rate risk effectively without an adequate replacement.

Further, as an entity operating in the financial services sector, GM Financial is required to comply with a wide variety of laws and regulations that may be costly to adhere to and may affect our consolidated operating results. Compliance with these laws and regulations requires that GM Financial maintain forms, processes, procedures, controls and the infrastructure to support these requirements, and these laws and regulations often create operational constraints both on GM Financial’s ability to implement servicing procedures and on pricing. Laws in the financial services industry are designed primarily for the protection of consumers. The failure to comply with these laws could result in significant statutory civil and criminal penalties, monetary damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, possible revocation of licenses and damage to reputation, brand and valued customer relationships.

Risks related to defined benefit pension plans

Our defined benefit pension plans are currently underfunded and our pension funding requirements could increase significantly due to a reduction in funded status as a result of a variety of factors, including weak performance of financial markets, declining interest rates, changes in laws or regulations, or changes in assumptions or investments that do not achieve adequate returns. Our employee benefit plans currently hold a significant amount of equity and fixed income securities. A detailed description of the investment funds and strategies and our potential funding requirements are disclosed in Note 15 to our consolidated financial statements, which also describes significant concentrations of risk to the plan investments.

Our future funding requirements for our defined benefit pension plans depend upon the future performance of assets placed in trusts for these plans, the level of interest rates used to determine funding levels, the level of benefits provided for by the plans and any changes in laws and regulations. Future funding requirements generally increase if the discount rate decreases or if actual asset returns are lower than expected asset returns, assuming other factors are held constant. We estimate future contributions to these plans using assumptions with respect to these and other items. Changes to those assumptions could have a significant effect on future contributions.

There are additional risks due to the complexity and magnitude of our investments. Examples include implementation of significant changes in investment policy, insufficient market liquidity in particular asset classes and the inability to quickly rebalance illiquid and long-term investments.

Factors that affect future funding requirements for our U.S. defined benefit plans generally affect the required funding for non-U.S. plans. Certain plans outside the U.S. do not have assets and therefore the obligation is funded as benefits are paid. If local legal authorities increase the minimum funding requirements for our non-U.S. plans, we could be required to contribute more funds, which could negatively affect our liquidity and financial condition.

* * * * * * *

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

* * * * * * *

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Item 2. Properties

At December 31, 2021, we had over 100 locations in the U.S. (excluding our automotive financing operations and dealerships), which are primarily for manufacturing, assembly, distribution, warehousing, engineering and testing. We, our subsidiaries or associated companies in which we own an equity interest, own most of these properties and/or lease a portion of these properties. Leased properties are primarily composed of warehouses and administration, engineering and sales offices.

We have manufacturing, assembly, distribution, office or warehousing operations in 29 countries, including equity interests in associated companies, which perform manufacturing, assembly or distribution operations. The major facilities outside the U.S., which are principally vehicle manufacturing and assembly operations, are located in Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea.

GM Financial owns or leases facilities for administration and regional credit centers. GM Financial has 37 facilities, of which 24 are located in the U.S. The major facilities outside the U.S. are located in Brazil, Canada, China and Mexico.

* * * * * * *

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

The discussion under "Litigation-Related Liability and Tax Administrative Matters" in Note 16 to our consolidated financial statements is incorporated by reference into this Part I - Item 3.

* * * * * * *

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

* * * * * * *

PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Market Information Shares of our common stock are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "GM".

Holders At January 18, 2022, we had 1.5 billion issued and outstanding shares of common stock held by 475 holders of record.

Dividends We do not plan to reinstate a regular common stock dividend at this time as we prioritize investment in our growth strategy.

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Stock Performance Graph The following graph compares the performance of our common stock to the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index and the Dow Jones Automobile & Parts Titans 30 Index for the last five years. It assumes $100 was invested on December 31, 2016, with dividends being reinvested.

https://cdn.kscope.io/a7ae09fee13861b5c92756aa878b4509-gm-20211231_g4.jpg

The following table summarizes stock performance graph data points in dollars:


	Years ended December 31,
	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
General Motors Company	$100	$123	$104	$119	$138	$194
S&P 500 Stock Index	$100	$122	$116	$153	$181	$233
Dow Jones Automobile & Parts Titans 30 Index	$100	$121	$95	$108	$163	$204

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Purchases of Equity Securities The following table summarizes our purchases of common stock in the three months ended December 31, 2021:


	Total Number of Shares Purchased(a)	Weighted Average Price Paid per Share		Total Number of Shares Purchased Under Announced Programs(b)	Approximate Dollar Value of Shares That May Yet be Purchased Under Announced Programs
October 1, 2021 through October 31, 2021	26,954	$	53.13	—	$3.3 billion
November 1, 2021 through November 30, 2021	—	$	—	—	$3.3 billion
December 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021	—	$	—	—	$3.3 billion
Total	26,954	$	53.13	—

__________

(a) Shares purchased consist of shares delivered by employees or directors to us for the payment of taxes resulting from issuance of common stock upon the vesting of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) relating to compensation plans. In June 2020 our shareholders approved the 2020 Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP), which authorizes awards of stock options, stock appreciation rights, RSUs, Performance Stock Units (PSUs) or other stock-based awards to selected employees, consultants, advisors and non-employee Directors of the Company. Refer to Note 22 to our consolidated financial statements for additional details on employee stock incentive plans.

(b) In January 2017, we announced that our Board of Directors had authorized the purchase of up to an additional $5.0 billion of our common stock with no expiration date.

* * * * * * *

Item 6. [Reserved]

* * * * * * *

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

This MD&A should be read in conjunction with the accompanying audited consolidated financial statements and notes. Forward-looking statements in this MD&A are not guarantees of future performance and may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Refer to the "Forward-Looking Statements" section of this MD&A and Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors for a discussion of these risks and uncertainties. The discussion of our financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 included in Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 is incorporated by reference into this MD&A.

Non-GAAP Measures Our non-GAAP measures include: earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)-adjusted, presented net of noncontrolling interests; earnings before income taxes (EBT)-adjusted for our GM Financial segment; earnings per share (EPS)-diluted-adjusted; effective tax rate-adjusted (ETR-adjusted); return on invested capital-adjusted (ROIC-adjusted) and adjusted automotive free cash flow. Our calculation of these non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies due to potential differences between companies in the method of calculation. As a result, the use of these non-GAAP measures has limitations and should not be considered superior to, in isolation from, or as a substitute for, related U.S. GAAP measures.

These non-GAAP measures allow management and investors to view operating trends, perform analytical comparisons and benchmark performance between periods and among geographic regions to understand operating performance without regard to items we do not consider a component of our core operating performance. Furthermore, these non-GAAP measures allow investors the opportunity to measure and monitor our performance against our externally communicated targets and evaluate the investment decisions being made by management to improve ROIC-adjusted. Management uses these measures in its financial, investment and operational decision-making processes, for internal reporting and as part of its forecasting and budgeting processes. Further, our Board of Directors uses certain of these and other measures as key metrics to determine management performance under our performance-based compensation plans. For these reasons, we believe these non-GAAP measures are useful for our investors.

EBIT-adjusted EBIT-adjusted is presented net of noncontrolling interests and is used by management and can be used by investors to review our consolidated operating results because it excludes automotive interest income, automotive interest expense and income taxes as well as certain additional adjustments that are not considered part of our core operations.

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Examples of adjustments to EBIT include, but are not limited to, impairment charges on long-lived assets and other exit costs resulting from strategic shifts in our operations or discrete market and business conditions; costs arising from the ignition switch recall and related legal matters; and certain currency devaluations associated with hyperinflationary economies. For EBIT-adjusted and our other non-GAAP measures, once we have made an adjustment in the current period for an item, we will also adjust the related non-GAAP measure in any future periods in which there is an impact from the item. Our corresponding measure for our GM Financial segment is EBT-adjusted because interest income and interest expense are part of operating results when assessing and measuring the operational and financial performance of the segment.

EPS-diluted-adjusted EPS-diluted-adjusted is used by management and can be used by investors to review our consolidated diluted EPS results on a consistent basis. EPS-diluted-adjusted is calculated as net income attributable to common stockholders-diluted less adjustments noted above for EBIT-adjusted and certain income tax adjustments divided by weighted-average common shares outstanding-diluted. Examples of income tax adjustments include the establishment or reversal of significant deferred tax asset valuation allowances.

ETR-adjusted ETR-adjusted is used by management and can be used by investors to review the consolidated effective tax rate for our core operations on a consistent basis. ETR-adjusted is calculated as Income tax expense less the income tax related to the adjustments noted above for EBIT-adjusted and the income tax adjustments noted above for EPS-diluted-adjusted divided by Income before income taxes less adjustments. When we provide an expected adjusted effective tax rate, we do not provide an expected effective tax rate because the U.S. GAAP measure may include significant adjustments that are difficult to predict.

ROIC-adjusted ROIC-adjusted is used by management and can be used by investors to review our investment and capital allocation decisions. We define ROIC-adjusted as EBIT-adjusted for the trailing four quarters divided by ROIC-adjusted average net assets, which is considered to be the average equity balances adjusted for average automotive debt and interest liabilities, exclusive of finance leases; average automotive net pension and other postretirement benefits (OPEB) liabilities; and average automotive net income tax assets during the same period.

Adjusted automotive free cash flow Adjusted automotive free cash flow is used by management and can be used by investors to review the liquidity of our automotive operations and to measure and monitor our performance against our capital allocation program and evaluate our automotive liquidity against the substantial cash requirements of our automotive operations. We measure adjusted automotive free cash flow as automotive operating cash flow from operations less capital expenditures adjusted for management actions. Management actions can include voluntary events such as discretionary contributions to employee benefit plans or nonrecurring specific events such as a closure of a facility that are considered special for EBIT-adjusted purposes. Refer to the “Liquidity and Capital Resources” section of this MD&A for additional information.

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The following table reconciles Net income attributable to stockholders under U.S. GAAP to EBIT-adjusted:


	Years Ended December 31,
	2021		2020		2019
Net income attributable to stockholders	$	10,019	$	6,427	$	6,732

Income tax expense	2,771		1,774		769

Automotive interest expense	950		1,098		782
Automotive interest income	(146)		(241)		(429)
Adjustments
Patent royalty matters(a)	250		—		—
GM Brazil indirect tax matters(b)	194		—		(1,360)
Cadillac dealer strategy(c)	175		99		—
GM Korea wage litigation(d)	82		—		—
GMI restructuring(e)	—		683		—
Ignition switch recall and related legal matters(f)	—		(130)		—
Transformation activities(g)	—		—		1,735
FAW-GM divestiture(h)	—		—		164

Total adjustments	701		652		539
EBIT-adjusted	$	14,295	$	9,710	$	8,393

________

(a)This adjustment was excluded because it relates to potential royalties accrued with respect to past-year sales.

(b)These adjustments were excluded because of the unique events associated with decisions rendered by the Superior Judicial Court of Brazil resulting in retrospective recoveries of indirect taxes in the year ended December 31, 2019, and a potential settlement with certain third parties relating to these recoveries in the year ended December 31, 2021.

(c)These adjustments were excluded because they relate to strategic activities to transition certain Cadillac dealers from the network as part of Cadillac's electric vehicle strategy.

(d)This adjustment was excluded because of the unique events associated with recent Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea (Korea Supreme Court) decisions related to our salaried workers.

(e)These adjustments were excluded because of a strategic decision to rationalize our core operations by exiting or significantly reducing our presence in various international markets to focus resources on opportunities expected to deliver higher returns. The adjustments primarily consist of dealer restructurings, asset impairments, inventory provisions and employee separation charges in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and India in the year ended December 31, 2020.

(f)These adjustments were excluded because of the unique events associated with the ignition switch recall, which included various investigations, inquiries and complaints from constituents.

(g)These adjustments were excluded because of a strategic decision to accelerate our transformation for the future to strengthen our core business, capitalize on the future of personal mobility, and drive significant cost efficiencies. The adjustments primarily consist of accelerated depreciation, supplier-related charges, pension and other curtailment charges and employee-related separation charges in the year ended December 31, 2019.

(h)This adjustment was excluded because we divested our joint venture FAW-GM Light Duty Commercial Vehicle Co., Ltd. (FAW-GM), as a result of a strategic decision by both shareholders, allowing us to focus our resources on opportunities expected to deliver higher returns.

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The following table reconciles diluted earnings per common share under U.S. GAAP to EPS-diluted-adjusted:


	Years Ended December 31,
	2021				2020				2019
	Amount		Per Share		Amount		Per Share		Amount		Per Share
Diluted earnings per common share	$	9,837	$	6.70	$	6,247	$	4.33	$	6,581	$	4.57




Adjustments(a)	701		0.47		652		0.46		539		0.38
Tax effect on adjustments(b)	(105)		(0.07)		(70)		(0.05)		(188)		(0.13)
Tax adjustments(c)	(51)		(0.03)		236		0.16		—		—
EPS-diluted-adjusted	$	10,382	$	7.07	$	7,065	$	4.90	$	6,932	$	4.82

________

(a) Refer to the reconciliation of Net income attributable to stockholders under U.S. GAAP to EBIT-adjusted within this section of the MD&A for adjustment details.

(b) The tax effect of each adjustment is determined based on the tax laws and valuation allowance status of the jurisdiction to which the adjustment relates.

(c) In the year ended December 31, 2021, the adjustments consist of tax benefits related to a deduction for an investment in a subsidiary and resolution of uncertainty relating to an indirect tax refund claim in Brazil, partially offset by tax expense related to the establishment of a valuation allowance against Cruise deferred tax assets. In the year ended December 31, 2020, the adjustment consists of tax expense related to the establishment of a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets in Australia and New Zealand. These adjustments were excluded because of the unique nature of these events and significant impacts of valuation allowances are not considered part of our core operations.

The following table reconciles our effective tax rate under U.S. GAAP to ETR-adjusted:


	Years Ended December 31,
	2021						2020						2019
	Income before income taxes		Income tax expense		Effective tax rate		Income before income taxes		Income tax expense		Effective tax rate		Income before income taxes		Income tax expense		Effective tax rate
Effective tax rate	$	12,716	$	2,771	21.8	%	$	8,095	$	1,774	21.9	%	$	7,436	$	769	10.3	%
Adjustments(a)	726		105				652		70				545		188
Tax adjustments(b)			51						(236)						—
ETR-adjusted	$	13,442	$	2,927	21.8	%	$	8,747	$	1,608	18.4	%	$	7,981	$	957	12.0	%

__________

(a) Refer to the reconciliation of Net income attributable to stockholders under U.S. GAAP to EBIT-adjusted within this section of the MD&A for adjustment details. Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests for these adjustments is included in the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2019. The tax effect of each adjustment is determined based on the tax laws and valuation allowance status of the jurisdiction to which the adjustment relates.

(b) Refer to the reconciliation of diluted earnings per common share under U.S. GAAP to EPS-diluted-adjusted within this section of the MD&A for adjustment details.

We define return on equity (ROE) as Net income (loss) attributable to stockholders for the trailing four quarters divided by average equity for the same period. Management uses average equity to provide comparable amounts in the calculation of ROE. The following table summarizes the calculation of ROE (dollars in billions):


	Years Ended December 31,
	2021			2020			2019
Net income (loss) attributable to stockholders	$	10.0		$	6.4		$	6.7
Average equity(a)	$	56.5		$	43.3		$	43.7
ROE	17.7		%	14.9		%	15.4		%

_______

(a) Includes equity of noncontrolling interests where the corresponding earnings (loss) are included in Net income (loss) attributable to stockholders.

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The following table summarizes the calculation of ROIC-adjusted (dollars in billions):


	Years Ended December 31,
	2021			2020			2019
EBIT-adjusted(a)	$	14.3		$	9.7		$	8.4
Average equity(b)	$	56.5		$	43.3		$	43.7
Add: Average automotive debt and interest liabilities (excluding finance leases)	17.1			27.8			14.9
Add: Average automotive net pension & OPEB liability	15.8			17.6			16.7
Less: Average automotive net income tax asset	(22.2)			(24.0)			(23.5)
ROIC-adjusted average net assets	$	67.2		$	64.7		$	51.8
ROIC-adjusted	21.3		%	15.0		%	16.2		%

________

(a) Refer to the reconciliation of Net income attributable to stockholders under U.S. GAAP to EBIT-adjusted within this section of the MD&A.

(b) Includes equity of noncontrolling interests where the corresponding earnings (loss) are included in EBIT-adjusted.

Overview Our vision for the future is a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion, which guides our growth-focused strategy to invest in EVs and AVs, software-enabled services and subscriptions and new business opportunities, while strengthening our market position in profitable ICE vehicles, such as trucks and SUVs. We will execute our strategy with a diverse team and a steadfast commitment to good citizenship through sustainable operations and a leading health and safety culture.

The automotive industry and GM are currently experiencing a global semiconductor supply shortage. The supply shortage has impacted, and continues to impact, multiple suppliers that incorporate semiconductors into the parts they supply to us. We expect the availability of semiconductors to improve throughout 2022. We will continue prioritizing our most popular and in-demand vehicles, including our full-size trucks, full-size SUVs, and EVs. We do not expect this shortage to impact our long-term growth and EV initiatives. In June 2021, we announced plans to increase our investment in EVs and AVs to more than $35.0 billion from 2020 through 2025, in part to accelerate battery and EV assembly capacity.

We also continue to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and government actions and measures taken to prevent its spread, and the potential to affect our operations. Refer to Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors for further discussion of these risks.

For the year ending December 31, 2022, we expect EPS-diluted and EPS-diluted-adjusted of between $6.25 and $7.25, Net income attributable to stockholders of between $9.4 billion and $10.8 billion and EBIT-adjusted of between $13.0 billion and $15.0 billion. We do not consider the potential impact of future adjustments on our expected financial results.

The following table reconciles expected Net income attributable to stockholders under U.S. GAAP to expected EBIT-adjusted (dollars in billions):


			Year Ending December 31, 2022
Net income attributable to stockholders			$ 9.4-10.8
Income tax expense			2.8-3.4

Automotive interest expense, net			0.8

EBIT-adjusted(a)			$ 13.0-15.0

________

(a)We do not consider the potential future impact of adjustments on our expected financial results.

We also face continuing market, operating and regulatory challenges in several countries across the globe due to, among other factors, weak economic conditions, competitive pressures, limitations in our product portfolio offerings, heightened emission standards, labor disruptions, foreign exchange volatility, rising material and services prices driven by inflationary pressures, evolving trade policy and political uncertainty. Refer to Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors for a discussion of these challenges.

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As we continue to assess our performance and the needs of our evolving business, additional restructuring and rationalization actions could be required. These actions could give rise to future asset impairments or other charges, which may have a material impact on our operating results.

GMNA Industry sales in North America were 18.5 million units in the year ended December 31, 2021, representing an increase of 4.3% compared to the corresponding period in 2020. U.S. industry sales were 15.4 million units in the year ended December 31, 2021, representing an increase of 3.3% compared to the corresponding period in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic originally resulted in a contraction of total North America industry volumes in 2020 that continued into 2021. Dealer inventory remains constrained for several critical vehicles, including our full-size trucks and full-size SUVs.

Our total vehicle sales in the U.S., our largest market in North America, were 2.2 million units for a market share of 14.4% in the year ended December 31, 2021, representing a decrease of 2.7 percentage points compared to the corresponding period in 2020.

We expect to sustain relatively strong EBIT-adjusted margins in 2022 on the continued strength of favorable vehicle pricing and strong U.S. industry light vehicle demand, partially offset by higher costs associated with commodities, raw materials and logistics. Our outlook is dependent on the pricing environment, continuing improvement of the semiconductor supply shortage and overall economic conditions. As a result of the semiconductor supply shortage, we experienced interruptions to our planned production schedules and temporarily suspended certain manufacturing sites to prioritize production of our most popular and in-demand products, including our full-size trucks and full-size SUVs. Additionally, we have been manufacturing vehicles, without the impacted components, representing an inventory carrying value of approximately $0.6 billion at December 31, 2021. We expect to hold these vehicles in our inventory until they are completed and sold to our dealers, which we expect to happen in the six months ending June 30, 2022.

GMI Industry sales in China were 25.9 million units in the year ended December 31, 2021, representing an increase of 3.8% compared to the corresponding period in 2020, which was adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our total vehicle sales in China were 2.9 million units resulting in a market share of 11.2% in the year ended December 31, 2021, representing a decrease of 0.5 percentage points compared to the corresponding period in 2020. The ongoing global semiconductor supply shortage, macro-economic impact of COVID-19 and geopolitical tensions continue to place pressure on China's automotive industry and our vehicle sales in China. Our Automotive China JVs generated equity income of $1.1 billion in the year ended December 31, 2021. Although price competition, higher costs associated with commodities and raw materials, and a more challenging regulatory environment related to emissions, fuel consumption and NEV requirements will place pressure on our operations in China, we will continue to build upon our strong brands, network, and partnerships in China as well as drive improvements in vehicle mix and cost.

Outside of China, industry sales were 23.0 million units in the year ended December 31, 2021, representing an increase of 8.2% compared to the corresponding period in 2020. Our total vehicle sales outside of China were 0.8 million units for a market share of 3.6% in the year ended December 31, 2021, representing a decrease of 1.1 percentage points compared to the corresponding period in 2020.

Cruise Cruise is actively testing AVs in the United States. Gated by safety and regulation, the goal of Cruise is to deliver its self-driving services as soon as possible.

In the year ended December 31, 2021, Cruise Holdings issued Class G Preferred Shares (Cruise Class G Preferred Shares) in exchange for $2.7 billion from Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft), Walmart Inc. (Walmart) and other investors, including $1.0 billion from General Motors Holdings LLC. All proceeds related to the Cruise Class G Preferred Shares are designated exclusively for working capital and general corporate purposes of Cruise Holdings. In addition, Cruise Holdings and Microsoft entered into a long-term strategic relationship to accelerate the commercialization of self-driving vehicles. Refer to Note 20 to our consolidated financial statements for further details.

Automotive Financing - GM Financial Summary and Outlook We believe that offering a comprehensive suite of financing products will generate incremental sales of our vehicles, drive incremental GM Financial earnings and help support our sales throughout various economic cycles. GM Financial's leasing program is exposed to residual values, which are heavily dependent on used vehicle prices. Used vehicle prices were higher in 2021 compared to 2020 levels, primarily due to low new vehicle inventory. In 2022, we expect used vehicle prices may decrease relative to 2021 levels, but to remain above pre-pandemic levels, primarily due to sustained low new vehicle inventory. The increase in used vehicle prices resulted in gains on terminations of leased vehicles of $2.0 billion in GM Financial interest, operating and other expenses for the year ended

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December 31, 2021, and $1.3 billion in the corresponding period in 2020. The following table summarizes the estimated residual value based on GM Financial's most recent estimates and the number of units included in GM Financial Equipment on operating leases, net by vehicle type (units in thousands):


	December 31, 2021					December 31, 2020
	Residual Value		Units	Percentage		Residual Value		Units	Percentage
Crossovers	$	16,696	897	67.3	%	$	16,334	964	65.5	%
Trucks	7,886		264	19.8	%	7,455		275	18.7	%
SUVs	3,104		80	5.9	%	3,435		92	6.3	%
Cars	1,430		93	7.0	%	1,949		140	9.5	%
Total	$	29,116	1,334	100.0	%	$	29,173	1,471	100.0	%

GM Financial's penetration of our retail sales in the U.S. was 44% in the year ended December 31, 2021 and 45% in the corresponding period in 2020. Penetration levels vary depending on incentive financing programs available and competing third-party financing products in the market. GM Financial's prime loan originations as a percentage of total loan originations in North America was 73% in the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. In the year ended December 31, 2021, GM Financial's revenue consisted of leased vehicle income of 67%, retail finance charge income of 29% and