GM projects $2,000 savings per vehicle from digital retailing, regional EV fulfillment

General Motors says it expects to save $2,000 per vehicle by expanding a digital retailing platform and shifting to a regional fulfillment model for electric vehicles.

GM President Mark Reuss on Thursday provided the figure during the Detroit automaker's investor day in New York. The company previously had outlined plans for an online EV sales tool, powered by automotive software provider Tekion, and a regional distribution strategy.

The automaker has opened three centralized EV fulfillment centers — two in California and one in the Southeast, Reuss said. The inventory management change is designed to speed up vehicle delivery times — to as few as four days — and increase efficiency, which will reduce distribution costs, Reuss said.

"The biggest enterprise-wide cost savings will come as we and the dealers change how we handle inventory, which means we're reducing how much we're ... incentivizing vehicles that were ordered that aren't popular," he said. "At the same time, we'll improve the customer experience by delivering the exact vehicles our customers want quickly and efficiently."

Reuss said the strategy leverages GM's U.S. franchised dealership network for a competitive advantage, including over startups that sell EVs directly to consumers.

Under the regional fulfillment approach, dealers will continue to receive EVs for test drives and immediate delivery, but GM will hold additional EVs at the regional centers. GM has said the approach reduces floorplan costs and the likelihood that unpopular vehicles will sit on dealership lots.

“We'll use cloud data and machine learning to continuously scan the order pipeline and available dealer and factory inventory for the best fulfillment option," Reuss said Thursday. "We know how this works because we know what vehicles move in certain parts of the country and at certain dealerships."

GM also has launched a digital retailing tool that currently works with the Chevrolet Bolt EV. Reuss said the platform will expand to include Cadillac in 2023. About 3,200 dealerships are enrolled on the digital retailing platform, representing about 80 percent of GM's U.S. network, he said.