“Conquesting Customers” General Motors Stock (NYSE:GM) Notches Up on Cadillac EV Wins

So we know that the electric vehicle ambitions of legacy automaker General Motors (GM), much like those of its competitors, have had to be pared back in recent months. But that does not mean these dreams are dead, as GM is making a comeback on the strength of its Cadillac-branded electric vehicle (EV) operations. In fact, these are starting to pull some of Tesla’s (TSLA) market away as well. That was enough to give GM shares a fractional boost in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.

GM is increasingly engaging in “customer conquesting,” or pulling market share away from other companies like Tesla, thanks to a growing line of EVs in the field. It certainly does not hurt matters that Tesla is suffering from some serious political pressures, particularly as CEO Elon Musk’s attention has been somewhat diverted from the company of late. However, that advantage may be coming to an end with Musk’s plans to get much more back into being a CEO.

At any rate, Cadillac is not even considering the impact of Musk’s politics on the field, instead sticking with the notion that GM is “…building great Cadillacs that are conquesting customers from other brands on the merits of the products.” But there is room for more conquesting to take place; reports noted that no Tesla vehicle shows up in cross-shopping for Cadillac’s EVs, which means customers are not specifically conducting searches for Teslas against Cadillacs.

Revamping the Credit Card

And while credit cards these days might be considered risky business for spending-averse customers, GM is looking to make sure its credit card is still an attractive prospect. It recently retooled the benefits program, GM Rewards, to help ensure it still processes payments. Not only will regular users get access to more ways to earn those points, they will also have more things on which to spend them, which is just as important a development as earning the points.

Starting May 20, it gets even better, as GM employees and retirees, as well as dealership employees and suppliers, will not only get employee discounting, but will also be able to use GM Rewards points on top of that discount. While the impact of this may not be as much as GM might hope for, every little bit counts in a case like this.

Is GM a Good Stock to Buy Now?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on GM stock based on nine Buys, seven Holds and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 11.38% rally in its share price over the past year, the average GM price target of $52.91 per share implies 5.11% upside potential.

See more GM analyst ratings

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