GM letter to shareholders for Q1 2025

2025-05-01


May 1, 2025

To our Shareholders: 

 

I want to begin this letter by saying how proud I am of our employees, dealers and suppliers for the results they helped deliver in the first quarter of 2025. We are also grateful to President Trump for his support of the U.S. automotive industry.  

 

We have had continual discussions with the President and his team since before the inauguration. They have invested the time to understand what it takes to be successful in this capital-intensive and highly competitive global industry, how we can work together to grow American manufacturing and the importance of companies like GM to communities across the country. 

 

Almost 1 million people in this country depend on GM for their livelihood, including our employees, suppliers, and dealers. We have a network of 50 U.S. manufacturing plants and parts facilities in 19 states, which includes 11 vehicle assembly plants. And we have invested $60 billion dollars here over the last five years. Our business is growing, and we will continue to grow our investments as we move forward. 

 

Incorporating the positive impact of the Administration’s actions this week, we are updating our full-year adjusted EBIT guidance to a range of $10 billion - $12.5 billion, including a current tariff exposure of $4 billion - $5 billion.

 

We look forward to maintaining our strong dialogue with the Administration on trade and other policies as they continue to evolve. As you know, there are ongoing discussions with key trade partners that may also have an impact. We will continue to be nimble and disciplined and keep you updated as we know more.
   

Importantly, GM’s business is growing and fundamentally strong as we adapt to the new trade policy environment, further strengthen our supply base and drive EV profitability. 

In the first quarter, we gained almost two points of U.S. market share year over year, our incentives remain far below the industry average, and our inventories remain low.

 

We also solidified our position as the #2 EV seller in the U.S., with Chevrolet becoming the fastest-growing EV brand. Our first quarter margin in North America was 8.8%, well within our 8-10% target range, despite the addition of Cruise expenses.

 

The team in China also deserves recognition for delivering positive equity income while restructuring the business, launching very competitive new products, and growing sales volume and market share.

 

As the global policy environment evolves, we will continue to leverage our most important assets – our winning portfolio of ICE vehicles and EVs, our network of 50 U.S. manufacturing plants and parts facilities, and a great team that is agile and flexible.

 

We also continue to thoughtfully focus on our growth strategy, including:   

  • Developing our next-generation software defined vehicle platform, which will be simpler but with even more capability 
  • Adding new features and products developed by our software and services team 
  • Continuing to grow and enhance the capabilities of Super Cruise, which third parties say is the industry’s best L2 driver assistance technology 
  • Developing L3 and even more advanced autonomous technologies 
  • Leveraging our position as the largest domestic OEM producer of lithium-ion battery cells  
  • Introducing new battery chemistries and form factors that will deliver the EV range and performance our customers have come to expect from GM with even lower pack costs and improved profitability 
  • Deploying AI solutions across the business 

 

We are making good progress, and we continue to strengthen our position working with companies like LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, NVIDIA, Lithium Americas, Hyundai, Honda and more. You will hear more about these value-creating initiatives throughout the year. 

 

 Thank you. 

 


Mary Barra

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements: This press release and related comments by management, may include “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws.  Future declarations of quarterly dividends and the establishment of future record and payment dates are at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will be based on a number of factors, including our future financial performance and other investment priorities. Forward-looking statements are any statements other than statements of historical fact. Forward-looking statements represent our current judgment about possible future events and are often identified by words like “aim,” “anticipate,” “appears,” “approximately,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “designed,” “effect,” “estimate,” “evaluate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,” “initiative,” “intend,” “may,” “objective,” “outlook,” “plan,” “potential,” “priorities,” “project,” “pursue,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “when,” “will,” “would,” or the negative of any of those words or similar expressions. In making these statements, we rely on assumptions and analysis based on our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments as well as other factors we consider appropriate under the circumstances. We believe these judgments are reasonable, but these statements are not guarantees of any future events or financial results, and our actual results may differ materially due to a variety of important factors, many of which are beyond our control. These factors, which may be revised or supplemented in subsequent reports we file with the SEC, include, among others, the following: (1) our ability to deliver new products, services, technologies and customer experiences; (2) our ability to timely fund and introduce new and improved vehicle models; (3) our ability to profitably deliver a broad portfolio of electric vehicles (EVs); (4) the success of our current line of internal combustion engine vehicles; (5) our highly competitive industry; (6) the unique technological, operational, regulatory and competitive risks related to the timing and commercialization of autonomous vehicles (AVs), including the various regulatory approvals and permits required for operating driverless AVs in multiple markets; (7) risks associated with climate change; (8) global automobile market sales volume; (9) inflationary pressures, persistently high prices, uncertain availability of raw materials and commodities, and instability in logistics and related costs; (10) our business in China, which is subject to unique operational, competitive, regulatory and economic risks; (11) the success of our ongoing strategic business relationships and of our joint ventures; (12) the international scale and footprint of our operations, which exposes us to a variety of unique political, economic, competitive and regulatory risks; (13) any significant disruption at any of our manufacturing facilities; (14) the ability of our suppliers to deliver parts, systems and components without disruption and at such times to allow us to meet production schedules; (15) pandemics, epidemics, disease outbreaks and other public health crises; (16) the possibility that competitors may independently develop products and services similar to ours, or that our intellectual property rights are not sufficient to prevent competitors from developing or selling those products or services; (17) our ability to manage risks related to security breaches and other disruptions to our information technology systems and networked products; (18) our ability to comply with increasingly complex, restrictive and punitive regulations relating to our enterprise data practices; (19) our ability to comply with extensive laws, regulations and policies applicable to our operations and products, including those relating to fuel economy, emissions and AVs; (20) costs and risks associated with litigation and government investigations; (21) the costs and effect on our reputation of product safety recalls and alleged defects in products and services; (22) any additional tax expense or exposure or failure to fully realize available tax incentives; (23) our continued ability to develop captive financing capability through General Motors Financial Company, Inc.; and (24) any significant increase in our pension funding requirements. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and our subsequent filings with the SEC. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or other factors, except where we are expressly required to do so by law.

To our Shareholders: 

I want to begin this letter by saying how proud I am of our employees, dealers and suppliers for the results they helped deliver in the first quarter of 2025. We are also grateful to President Trump for his support of the U.S. automotive industry. 

We have had continual discussions with the President and his team since before the inauguration. They have invested the time to understand what it takes to be successful in this capital-intensive and highly competitive global industry, how we can work together to grow American manufacturing, and the importance of companies like GM to communities across the country. 

Almost one million people in this country depend on GM for their livelihoods, including our employees, suppliers, and dealers. We have a network of 50 U.S. manufacturing plants and parts facilities in 19 states, which includes 11 vehicle assembly plants. And we have invested $60 billion here over the last five years. Our business is growing, and we will continue to grow our investments as we move forward.

Incorporating the positive impact of the Administration’s actions this week, we are updating our full-year EBIT-adjusted guidance to a range of $10 billion - $12.5 billion, including a current tariff exposure of $4 billion - $5 billion.

We look forward to maintaining our strong dialogue with the Administration on trade and other policies as they continue to evolve. As you know, there are ongoing discussions with key trade partners that may also have an impact. We will continue to be nimble and disciplined and update you as we know more.

Importantly, GM’s business is growing and fundamentally strong as we adapt to the new trade policy environment, further strengthen our supply base, and drive EV profitability.

In the first quarter, we gained almost two points of U.S. market share year over year, our incentives remain far below the industry average, and our inventories remain low.

We also solidified our position as the #2 EV seller in the U.S., with Chevrolet becoming the fastest-growing EV brand. Our first quarter margin in North America was 8.8%, well within our 8-10% target range, despite the addition of Cruise expenses.

The team in China also deserves recognition for delivering positive equity income while restructuring the business, launching very competitive new products, and growing sales volume and market share.

As the global policy environment evolves, we will continue to leverage our most important assets – our winning portfolio of ICE vehicles and EVs, our network of 50 U.S. manufacturing plants and parts facilities, and a great team that is agile and flexible.

We continue to thoughtfully focus on our growth strategy, including:   

  • Developing our next-generation software defined vehicle platform, which will be simpler but with even more capability 
  • Adding new features and products developed by our software and services team 
  • Continuing to grow and enhance the capabilities of Super Cruise, which third parties say is the industry’s best L2 driver assistance technology 
  • Developing L3 and even more advanced autonomous technologies 
  • Leveraging our position as the largest domestic OEM producer of lithium-ion battery cells  
  • Introducing new battery chemistries and form factors that will deliver the EV range and performance our customers have come to expect from GM with even lower pack costs and improved profitability 
  • Deploying AI solutions across the business 

We are making good progress, and we continue to strengthen our position working with companies like LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, NVIDIA, Lithium Americas, Hyundai, Honda and more. You will hear more about these value-creating initiatives throughout the year. 

 Thank you. 

Mary Barra Signature

Mary Barra

Non-GAAP Reconciliations:
The following table reconciles expected Net income attributable to stockholders to expected EBIT-adjusted (dollars in billions):

 

Year Ending 
December 31, 2025

Net income attributable to stockholders

$ 8.2-10.1

Income tax expense

1.8-2.4

Automotive interest income, net

(0.0)

Adjustments(a)

0.0

EBIT-adjusted

$ 10.0-12.5

(a)Refer to our current report on Form 8-K filed on April 29, 2025 for the reconciliation of Net income attributable to stockholders to EBIT-adjusted and segment profit (loss) and for adjustment details for the three months ended March 31, 2025. These expected financial results do not include the potential impact of future adjustments related to special items.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements: This press release and related comments by management, may include “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws.  Future declarations of quarterly dividends and the establishment of future record and payment dates are at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will be based on a number of factors, including our future financial performance and other investment priorities. Forward-looking statements are any statements other than statements of historical fact. Forward-looking statements represent our current judgment about possible future events and are often identified by words like “aim,” “anticipate,” “appears,” “approximately,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “designed,” “effect,” “estimate,” “evaluate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,” “initiative,” “intend,” “may,” “objective,” “outlook,” “plan,” “potential,” “priorities,” “project,” “pursue,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “when,” “will,” “would,” or the negative of any of those words or similar expressions. In making these statements, we rely on assumptions and analysis based on our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments as well as other factors we consider appropriate under the circumstances. We believe these judgments are reasonable, but these statements are not guarantees of any future events or financial results, and our actual results may differ materially due to a variety of important factors, many of which are beyond our control. These factors, which may be revised or supplemented in subsequent reports we file with the SEC, include, among others, the following: (1) our ability to deliver new products, services, technologies and customer experiences; (2) our ability to timely fund and introduce new and improved vehicle models; (3) our ability to profitably deliver a broad portfolio of electric vehicles (EVs); (4) the success of our current line of internal combustion engine vehicles; (5) our highly competitive industry; (6) the unique technological, operational, regulatory and competitive risks related to the timing and commercialization of autonomous vehicles (AVs), including the various regulatory approvals and permits required for operating driverless AVs in multiple markets; (7) risks associated with climate change; (8) global automobile market sales volume; (9) inflationary pressures, persistently high prices, uncertain availability of raw materials and commodities, and instability in logistics and related costs; (10) our business in China, which is subject to unique operational, competitive, regulatory and economic risks; (11) the success of our ongoing strategic business relationships and of our joint ventures; (12) the international scale and footprint of our operations, which exposes us to a variety of unique political, economic, competitive and regulatory risks; (13) any significant disruption at any of our manufacturing facilities; (14) the ability of our suppliers to deliver parts, systems and components without disruption and at such times to allow us to meet production schedules; (15) pandemics, epidemics, disease outbreaks and other public health crises; (16) the possibility that competitors may independently develop products and services similar to ours, or that our intellectual property rights are not sufficient to prevent competitors from developing or selling those products or services; (17) our ability to manage risks related to security breaches and other disruptions to our information technology systems and networked products; (18) our ability to comply with increasingly complex, restrictive and punitive regulations relating to our enterprise data practices; (19) our ability to comply with extensive laws, regulations and policies applicable to our operations and products, including those relating to fuel economy, emissions and AVs; (20) costs and risks associated with litigation and government investigations; (21) the costs and effect on our reputation of product safety recalls and alleged defects in products and services; (22) any additional tax expense or exposure or failure to fully realize available tax incentives; (23) our continued ability to develop captive financing capability through General Motors Financial Company, Inc.; and (24) any significant increase in our pension funding requirements. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and our subsequent filings with the SEC. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or other factors, except where we are expressly required to do so by law.