GM to take a $1.6 billion hit as tax incentives for EVs are slashed and emission rules ease

Key Points

• General Motors will incur a $1.6 billion loss in the next quarter due to slashed tax incentives for electric vehicles and eased emissions regulations.
• The EV tax credit, which previously provided up to $7,500 for new electric vehicles, ended last month, contributing to GM's financial hit.
• GM's adjustments include $1.2 billion in non-cash impairment charges and $400 million related to contract cancellations and settlements from EV-related investments.
• Increased competition from Chinese automaker BYD and changing U.S. policies may hinder GM's long-term goals to lead in electric vehicle production.

General Motors will record a negative impact of $1.6 billion in its next quarter after tax incentives for electric vehicles were slashed by the U.S. and rules governing emissions are relaxed.

Shares fell less than 2% before the opening bell Tuesday.

The EV tax credit ended last month. The clean vehicle tax credit was worth $7,500 for new EVs and up to $4,000 for used ones.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency has been working on easing rules aimed at cleaning up auto tailpipe emissions as the Trump administration move to undo incentives for automakers to go electric. President Donald Trump has also challenged federal EV charging infrastructure money and blocked California’s ban of new gas-powered vehicle sales. It adds up to less pressure on automakers to continue evolving their production away from gas-burning vehicles.

General Motors, which had led the way among U.S. automakers with plans to convert production to an electric fleet of vehicles, said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that it will have to book charges that include non-cash impairment and other charges of $1.2 billion due to EV capacity adjustments. There's also $400 million in charges mostly related to contract cancellation fees and commercial settlements associated with EV-related investments.

GM warned that it may take additional hits as it adjusts production, with non-cash charges potentially impacting operations and cash flow in the future.

The company said that its EV capacity realignment doesn't impact its retail portfolio of Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac EVs currently in production, and that it expects those models to remain available to consumers.

EVs were considered to be the future of the US automotive industry. GM had announced in 2020 that it was going to invest $27 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles in the next five years, a 35% increase over plans made before the pandemic.

In 2021 GM said that it planned to have more than half of its North American and China factories be capable of making electric vehicles by 2030. It also pledged at the time to increase its investment in EV charging networks by nearly $750 million through 2025.

A year later, GM CEO Mary Barra said that the automaker would sell more electric vehicles in the U.S. than Tesla by the middle of the decade. GM also had a goal of making the vast majority of the vehicles it produces electric by 2035, and the entire company carbon neutral, including operations, five years after that.

Yet U.S. automakers are being hampered in some of their long-term planning, with drastic changes in economic and environmental policy from one administration to the next. The automakers are also facing increased competition from automakers such as China's BYD, which announced in July that its sales grew 31% in the first six months of the year to 2.1 million cars.

BYD’s sales have skyrocketed on the back of a government-driven EV boom in China. The rise of BYD and other Chinese electric vehicle makers is a challenge for Tesla and the world’s other major automakers as Chinese competitors push into Europe, Southeast Asia and other overseas markets with a relatively affordable option for drivers who want to go green.