General Motors is collaborating with Ventec to increase production of its respiratory care products to fight the virus. GM’s contract to provide 30,000 ventilators to the U.S. government is worth $490 million at a cost per unit of just under $17,000 each, although General Motors will not be making a profit on the venture. For context, GM’s 2019 revenue was USD $137 billion.
Given that Detroit’s ‘Big Three’ automakers GM, Ford and Chrysler have shut down automobile production during the coronavirus pandemic, GM’s effort to assist Ventec has been compared by some to World War II conditions when car factories switched their efforts to building military planes and vehicles.