The future according to general motors

GM CEO Mary Barra Says EVs Remain Long-Term Goal Despite Regulatory Shifts

General Motors CEO Mary Barra said regulatory changes under the Trump administration have had a greater impact on the automaker’s strategy than recent trade policy shifts, even as GM continues to view electric vehicles as its long-term goal. Speaking at an Automotive Press Association event ahead of the Detroit Auto Show, Barra said the rollback of fuel economy standards and the elimination of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit forced GM to quickly revise its product and investment plans. Those changes included scaling back billions of dollars in electric vehicle spending while placing more emphasis on internal combustion engine models.

Source: CBT New

GM CEO: ICE and evs can both ‘thrive under the GM tent’

General Motors will continue its major focus on electric vehicles but at a slower pace than originally planned while also maintaining a strong position in ICE power in addition to some upcoming hybrids and plug-in hybrids, the company’s CEO Mary Barra said. In a “fireside chat” before an Automotive Press Association audience ahead of the 2026 Detroit Auto Show, Barra discussed a number of issues, most notably GM’s revised product strategy in reaction to the Trump administration’s rollback of future fuel economy regulations and elimination of the $7,500 EV tax credit.

Source: Wards Auto

China's vehicle sales and exports are headed for a slowdown amid sluggish demand and lingering external uncertainties, a major Chinese industry association said on Wednesday. Vehicle sales are expected to grow 1% this year, cooling from 9.4% last year, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed. Sales growth of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are set to slow to 15.2% from 28.2% while vehicle exports are likely to rise 4.3% after a stronger-than-expected 21.1% growth in 2025, CAAM data showed.

Source: Reuters

Legacy Brands Hit Harder Than Tesla

New electric vehicle registrations in the U.S. fell 49 percent in November from a year earlier following the repeal of federal tax credits, hitting legacy brands harder than EV leader Tesla. EV registrations fell to 56,072 vehicles, cutting their share of the light-vehicle market to 4.6 percent, down 3.7 percentage points from November 2024, S&P Global Mobility said. The data excludes hybrids. “Once we knew that we were losing the tax credit at the end of September, I said EV share is going to get cut in half,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars.

Source: Automotive New

Pickup trucks and SUVs continue to top the sales charts in the United States, while a few affordable sedans hang onto the remaining spots. 2025 has come to a close, and the bestselling new car list continues to be dominated by pickup trucks and SUVs, with a few sedans still clinging on to a top spot. We've (Car and Driver) pored over the data and rounded up the 25 bestselling new cars sold in the United States in 2025. The top 10 were:

10. Chevy Equinox - 274,356 units sold
9.   Toyota Tacoma – 274,638 units sold
8.   Toyota Cary – 316,185 units sold
7.   Tesla Model Y – 317,800 units sold (estimated)
6.   GMC Sierra – 348,222 units sold
5.   Ram pickup – 374,059 units sold
4.   Honda CR-V – 403,768 units sold
3.   Toyota RAV4 – 479,288 units sold
2.   Chevy Silverado – 577,434 units sold
1.   Ford F-150 Series – 801,525 units sold

A full listing of the top 25 best selling vehicles can be found on the Car and Driver website.

Confidence among automaker and supplier respondents surveyed by Automotive News rose in the fourth quarter. For retailers, however, it was a different story. In the latest quarterly Automotive News Auto Industry Confidence Index, franchised dealers expressed concerns over vehicle affordability, tariffs and elevated interest rates despite several cuts by the Federal Reserve in 2025. The overall score rose to 58 in the quarter despite the dealer decline, up from 55.6 in the third quarter.

Source: Automotive News

The impact of Expensive Vehicles

For the Detroit 3, 2025 provided a costly lesson about what can happen when consumers think new vehicles are too expensive. As the industry’s average monthly payment neared $800, General Motors and Ford Motor Co. achieved record sales for their lowest-priced U.S. nameplates, the Chevrolet Trax subcompact crossover and the Ford Maverick compact pickup. Meanwhile, the two automakers have loaded up their balance sheets with charges totaling about $27 billion to refocus their manufacturing footprints away from higher-end electric vehicles. “One of the big reasons why we had our best sales this decade is the Maverick; affordable versions of our vehicles are really hot-selling,” Ford CEO Jim Farley told reporters at the Detroit Auto Show. “Customers are telling us: Please offer more. So that’s part of our write-off — we’re retooling those plants for affordable vehicles."

Source: Automotive News

EV Market up but Down

The U.S. electric vehicle (EV) market closed 2025 on a positive note, with both new and used EV sales rising in December, according to data from Cox Automotive. Elevated new-vehicle inventory and steady used-vehicle supply contributed to a market environment shaped by incentives and competitive offerings. Pricing remained largely stable, with heavy discounts on new EVs helping offset softer retail momentum. December new-EV sales totaled an estimated 84,294 units, down 38% from a year earlier but up 14.4% from November. The EV share of total new-vehicle sales held steady at 5.7%. Tesla led the market with 48,300 units, followed by Ford (5,052), Cadillac (3,919), Rivian (3,606), and Hyundai (3,135). Tesla’s sales rose 6.1% month over month, though market share fell to 57.3% from November’s 61.8% as competitors rebounded. Lucid achieved its best monthly performance of the year, delivering 2,415 units, a 146% increase from November.

Source: CBT News

Shift in trade policy for the northern U.S. neighbor, but despite the scale of the change, GM appears unlikely to benefit in the near term, largely due to certification and regulatory hurdles, rather than the economics of tariffs. Under the newly announced agreement, Canada will allow up to 49,000 Chinese-made EVs per year to enter the country at a 6.1 percent tariff, replacing the previous 100 percent duty imposed in 2024. The deal is tied to broader trade concessions, including agricultural exports, and is intended to encourage longer-term Chinese investment in Canada’s automotive market.

As reported by Automotive News, analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence say the most immediate beneficiaries are automakers that already hold North American regulatory approval. Chief among them are Tesla and brands controlled by Geely, including Volvo and Polestar. Meanwhile, Tesla previously imported roughly 44,000 China-built EVs into Canada in 2023, the final full year before the full 100-percent tariff took effect. Once the duty jumped to 100 percent, Tesla shifted Canadian supply to its Berlin facility and U.S. plants. Similarly, Volvo and Polestar were forced to pause imports of Chinese-produced models such as the EX30 and Polestar 2. The new agreement could make Chinese-built imports viable again. While GM sells a large volume of EVs in China through its joint ventures, none of those vehicles are currently certified for sale in Canada or the United States. That limitation effectively excludes the company from taking advantage of the new tariff structure. Brands such as Wuling and Baojun dominate GM’s China EV sales, but their products were engineered to local cost and regulatory requirements. For example, vehicles like the ultra-affordable Wuling MINI EV are fundamentally incompatible with North American safety standards, making certification impractical.

Even Chevrolet-branded EVs now sold in Mexico and South America (Chevy Spark EV, Chevy Captiva EV, Chevy Express MAX EV) would require substantial re-engineering and crash testing to meet Canadian and U.S. regulations, adding cost and time that erode any sort of tariff advantage. The recent Canadian agreement follows moves made by the European Commission to soften its own stance on Chinese EV tariffs, standing in contrast to the more restrictive trade policies floated by the Trump administration. Over time, these divergent policies could allow Chinese automakers to establish a stronger foothold in certain auto markets, including in the Canadian market.

Source: GM Authority

Canada has reached a deal that will allow for the sale of some Chinese EVs in that country after Prime Minister Mark Carney opted to slash the country's tariffs on those models. However, Canada will also place a 49,000 unit annual cap on the number of Chinese EVs allowed in the country at first, a number that will grow to around 70,000 in the next five years. Regardless, this deal has drawn its fair share of criticism, and opposition continues to grow.
"The American Automotive Policy Council and the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, which represent the public policy interests of Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis in the United States and Canada, respectively, are concerned with today’s announcement that Canada will introduce a quota for Chinese electric vehicles," the lobby group said in a statement.

That action has the potential to undermine Canada’s auto sector and presents risks to the future of the integrated North American auto supply chain. We stand ready to work with the government on the overarching objectives of protecting the integrated North American market and supporting American and Canadian auto jobs and investment.”
AAPC joins members of the Trump administration in panning the deal between Canada and China, as well as Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who was quick to criticize it as well. Given current rules in the U.S., it seems unlikely that those same vehicles will make their way to that country, unless Chinese automakers erect production facilities there. Regardless, Ford CEO Jim Farley has expressed plenty of concern over that prospect in recent times - saying that Ford "doesn't have a future" if it loses to that country's vehicles, that it's in a "fight for our lives," and admitting The Blue Oval was 25 years behind BYD not too terribly long ago.

In spite of the fact that Chinese EVs have experienced a dramatic rise in global sales over the past couple of years, those same types of vehicles aren't currently on sale in quite a few parts of the world - including the U.S. and Canada. This is due to lofty tariffs imposed by both countries amid concerns that Chinese EVs could pose national security risks, as well as potentially unfair competitive advantages, though the proverbial tide is starting to turn.

Source: Ford Authority

More than half of U.S. car shoppers say tariffs are influencing their brand consideration, with many indicating they are more likely to consider American automakers as trade policy reshapes pricing expectations and long-term ownership costs. According to a recent CDK survey, 54% of shoppers said tariffs would make them more inclined to buy a vehicle from an American brand. The survey included more than 1,300 consumers actively shopping for a vehicle and highlights how trade policy is beginning to affect buyer behavior at the dealership level.

Source: CBT News

Wholesale used-vehicle prices climbed sharply in the first half of January, signaling stronger early-year demand as dealers prepare for the spring selling season. The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index rose to 209.2 in the first 15 days of January, according to Cox Automotive data from Manheim. That marks a 1.8% increase from December and a 1.7% gain year over year, despite seasonal patterns that typically show slight declines this time of year.

Source: CBT News

Customers are more likely to pay cash for vehicles than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, continuing a trend that can cost a dealership more than $1,500 in finance and insurance gross profit per vehicle, according to analytics firm. “We’ve seen more cash deals,” Shelby Preble, vice president of finance and insurance for Holman auto group, told Automotive News. “We’ve seen more outside financing.” Nineteen percent of new-vehicle and 64 percent of used-vehicle sales weren’t financed by a loan or lease arranged by a dealership during the third quarter, according to the most recent data from Experian.

Source: Automotive News