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BUSINESS Saturday 9 January 2021
New campaign, and logo, for GM in a bid to electrify image

By TOM KRISHER than five years. Some will be able
AP Auto Writer to go up to 450 miles per charge
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is and from zero to 60 mph (97 kilo-
changing its corporate logo and meters per hour) in as quickly as
launching an electric vehicle mar- three seconds.
keting campaign to reshape its im- The company has promised to
age as clean vehicle company, spend $27 billion on battery vehi-
rather than a builder of gas-pow- cles through 2025.
ered pickups and SUVs. The new logo will go wherever GM
The 112-year-old Detroit automak- now has a logo, including websites
er has promised to roll out 30 new and buildings, Wahl said.
battery-powered vehicles globally The company stopped putting the
by the end of 2025 and said Friday logo on car bodies about a de-
that the new campaign will high- cade ago as it started to empha-
light its progressive vision for the size individual brands. But GM says
future. the new logo eventually will re-
GM said the industry has reached place the old one on window glass
a history-changing inflection point and some other parts.
for mass adoption of electric ve- The marketing campaign will fea-
hicles. ture celebrities including Malcom
The campaign comes as stock Gladwell, author of "The Tipping
market investors are enthralled Point."
with companies that make elec- A campaign of "Everyone In" con-
tric vehicles. Shares of global EV flicts a bit with GM's announced
leader Tesla Inc. have skyrocketed plans for electric vehicles such
more than 800% in the past year, as a GMC Hummer pickup and
and the company's market value Cadillac Lyriq SUV, both higher-
has passed $800 billion. GM's shares This image provided by General Motors shows the new company logo. priced vehicles. But Wahl said low-
are only up slightly in the past year Associated Press er priced vehicles are among the
and its value is around $61 billion. 30 new electric vehicles that are
Shares of GM were down 1.6% to that we would change again," up. "You will see it in many places coming.
$42.61 in Friday afternoon trading. said Deborah Wahl, GM global throughout the year," she said Fri- GM officials have said previously
GM is scrapping its old square blue chief marketing officer. "Our mes- day. She said the campaign will that they will have a small electric
logo and replacing it with a lower sage here is that we believe there start in the United States but even- SUV that will cost less than $30,000
case gm surrounded by rounded should be an EV for everyone." tually will become global. It will not within five years.
corners. The company says it's the GM is hoping the "Everybody In" be in brand ads for vehicles, Wahl The campaign will run ahead of
biggest change to its logo since campaign prepares buyers for a said. current electric vehicle sales trends
1964. The 'm' in the logo is under- new era of vehicle propulsion. Late last year, GM said it was near- in the U.S. Last year automakers
lined to look more like an electrical Wahl said the marketing cam- ing a battery chemistry break- sold just over 260,000 fully electric
plug. paign will be "very significant," but through that will make electric ve- vehicles. Although sales were up
"We felt it was just such a transfor- she wouldn't say how much money hicles as affordable as those with nearly 10% over 2019, electric ve-
mative moment that this is the time would be spent or where it will show internal combustion engines in less hicles still were less than 2% of new

Bitcoin crosses $40K mark, doubling in less than a month

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — rent version of Bitcoin. It's major futures exchanges
First it went through $20,000. largely become a store of rolled out bitcoin futures.
Then 10 days later, it broke value," said Mike Venuto, The attention drove Bitcoin
through $25,000, and then, a co-portfolio manager of to roughly $19,300, a then-
with barely taking a breath, the Amplify Transformation- unheard of price for the
it crossed $30,000. Now only al Data Sharing ETF, a $391 currency.
a few days into 2021, the million exchanged-traded Then it all evaporated. The
price of bitcoin has crossed fund that focuses on block- currency's value plunged
$40,000. chain technologies and sharply in 2018, and by De-
Nothing's new with the digi- companies that deal with cember of that year Bitcoin
tal currency in the month cryptocurrencies. was worth less than $4,000
since it crossed $20,000 Media attention to its rise a coin. Up until this most re-
— there's been no major has only added fuel to the cent rally which started in
change in how it can be rally. But investors in digital October, Bitcoin generally
used. Although some inves- currencies and companies floated between $5,000 In this Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014 file photo, Jon Rumion, back-
tors are now using the noto- that trade or "mine" them and $10,000. ground left, talks with Michael Cargill at Central Texas Gun
riously volatile currency as are warning people to be While in the last two years Works in Austin, Texas.
a "store of value," which is skeptical of Bitcoin's recent companies have em- Associated Press
traditionally a title saved for rise and to be braced for a braced the technology
safe haven investments like lot of volatility. that underlies digital curren- ago. It's still largely used In fact, other investments
gold and other precious It's been a wild ride for bit- cies like Bitcoin, a concept by those distrustful of the typically used as safe ha-
metals. coin the last three years. known as the blockchain, banking system, criminals vens during uncertain times
"Will you be able to buy a The digital currency made the actual uses for Bitcoin seeking to launder money, — notable precious met-
cup of coffee with bitcoin? its big Wall Street debut in have not really changed and for the most part, as a als — have been trading at
Probably not with the cur- December 2017, when the since its rally three years store of value. near record highs as well.q