in their areas. In particular, our vehicles and connected services increasingly rely on software and hardware that is highly technical and complex and our success in this area is dependent upon our ability to retain and recruit the best talent. The market for highly skilled workers and leaders in our industry is extremely competitive. In addition to compensation considerations, current and potential employees are increasingly placing a premium on culture and other various intangibles, such as working for companies with a clear purpose and strong brand reputation, flexible work arrangements, and other considerations, such as embracing sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Failure to attract, hire, develop, motivate and retain highly qualified and diverse employees could disrupt our operations and adversely affect our strategic plans.
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, at decreasing price points, 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, crossovers, 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, including tax credits or other government policies in various countries, 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 strategic portfolio of EVs. The production and profitable sale of EVs has become increasingly important to our long-term business as we continue our transition to an all-electric future. Our EV strategy is dependent on our ability to deliver a strategic portfolio of high-quality EVs that are competitive and meet consumer demands; scale our EV manufacturing capabilities; reduce the costs associated with the manufacture of EVs, particularly with respect to battery cells and packs; increase vehicle range and the energy density of our batteries; efficiently source sufficient materials for the manufacture of battery cells; 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. Our progress towards these objectives has impacted, and may continue to impact, the need to record losses on our EV-related inventory, including battery cells.
In addition, the success of our long-term strategy is dependent on consumer adoption of EVs. 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 given battery charge; the proliferation and speed of charging infrastructure, in particular with respect to public EV charging stations, and the success of the Company's charging infrastructure programs and strategic joint ventures and other relationships; 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 meaningful and fully utilizable economic incentives promoting the adoption of EVs, including production and consumer credits contemplated by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA); 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 ICE vehicles, particularly our 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 strategic portfolio of EVs, we currently recognize the highest profit margins on our full-size ICE SUVs and full-size ICE pickup trucks. As a result, our near-term success is dependent upon our ability to sell higher margin vehicles in sufficient volumes. We are also using the cash generated by our ICE vehicles to fund our growth strategy, including with respect to 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 (such as related to the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza), concerns about fuel consumption or GHG emissions, or other reasons, could weaken the demand for our higher margin vehicles. More stringent fuel economy