General Motors has warned investors that its electric-vehicle strategy is proving costly — and that the pain is not yet over.
The Detroit automaker said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that it will record about $6 billion in fourth-quarter charges tied to scaling back EV plans in the US, with another $1.1 billion linked to restructuring in China.
Most of the EV-related hits stem from contract cancellations, supplier settlements, and asset writedowns, GM said, as demand for battery-powered cars sputters.
GM said the charge will be recorded as a special item in its fourth-quarter earnings. It warned that additional EV-related costs are likely in 2026 as it continues negotiations with suppliers, though it expects those charges to be lower than last year’s.
The automaker also said the writedown would not affect its roughly dozen electric models sold in the US.
“We plan to continue to make these models available to consumers,” it said in its filing.
The EV winter
GM’s announcement on Thursday follows a $1.6 billion writedown in the third quarter, which the automaker took as it began pivoting away from its EV strategy after an overhaul of US regulations under the Trump administration.
Trump has reversed major EV-friendly measures from the Biden era, including the $7,500 federal EV tax credit that had underpinned consumer demand for electric vehicles.
GM said in a sales release on Monday that its EV sales fell 43% in the fourth quarter after the consumer tax credit expired. The automaker has since rolled back its EV plans and returned to hybrids and gas-powered cars. This was a marked change from the EV ambitions laid out in 2021, when its CEO, Mary Barra, said the company aimed to become electric-only by 2035.
GM’s profit warning comes weeks after Ford said in December that it would scale back its EV production, a move expected to cost it nearly $20 billion.
”Ford no longer plans to produce select larger electric vehicles where the business case has eroded due to lower-than-expected demand, high costs and regulatory changes,” the company said in a news release.
Other carmakers have also announced changes to their EV plans in recent months. Honda, Jeep, and Ram have dropped current or planned EV models for the US market, while Porsche said in September it would take a €1.8 billion, or $2.2 billion, hit as it shifts back toward hybrids and gas vehicles.
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