Quarterly profits slide at General Motors as tariffs hit home

Quarterly profits fell sharply at General Motors, the car and truck giant confirmed on Tuesday, hit hard by Donald Trump’s swingeing tariff regime.

  • General Motors Corp
  • 22 July 2025 13:44:41
General Motors

Source: Sharecast

Revenues at America’s largest automaker eased 1.8% in the three months to 30 June, to $47.1bn, while adjusted earnings before interest and tax tumbled 31.6% to $3bn.

Earnings per share fell to $2.53 from $3.06 a year previously, although the decline was not as sharp as analysts had been expecting. Wall Street had been looking for EPS of $2.44.

However, GM, which has already forecast a tariff impact of between $4bn and $5bn this year, said duties on cars and parts had cost it $1.1bn in the second quarter.

The third-quarter impact would also likely be higher, it warned, due to the timing of indirect tariff costs.

Earlier this year, the Detroit-based owner of Chevrolet and Cadillac pulled its annual guidance while it assessed the impact of Trump’s tariff regime, before reintroducing lower forecasts for annual EBIT of between $10bn and $12.5bn.

Looking to the rest of the year, it flagged that the last two quarters would be subject to tariffs – as opposed to just one in the first half – and that second half volumes were traditionally seasonally lower.

However, it also reaffirmed the forecast for annual EBIT.

In a letter to shareholders, chief executive Mary Barra underlined GM’s long-term commitment to electrical vehicles, despite weakness in the wider market and a lack of support for the sector in Washington.

Sales of battery-powered vehicles soared 111% in the second quarter, to 46,280 units, helping GM’s share of the American EV market reach 16%.

Barra said: “Despite slower EV industry growth, we believe the long-term future is profitable electric vehicle production, and this continues to be our north star.

“We will continue to drive improved overall profitability and focus on EV profitability improvement to generate ongoing strong free cash flow.

"I believe everything we’re doing strategically and proactively, along with closer alignment of emissions rules with consumer demand, will further differentiate us from our competitors.”

As at 1315 BST, shares in GM were down 3% in pre-market trading.

Trump first imposed tariffs of 25% on foreign-made vehicles and parts in March, before announcing additional country-specific and reciprocal tariffs in April.

Around 50% of vehicles sold in the US by GM in 2024 were assembled overseas, according to industry data.

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