General Motors Company (GM) Business Profile

What it does

General Motors is an automotive company headquartered in Detroit. It designs, builds and sells trucks, crossovers, cars and automobile parts, and provides software-enabled services and subscriptions worldwide. Its vehicle brands include Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC; its China-related operations also market vehicles under Baojun and Wuling.

The core business is split between GM North America and GM International. These operations develop, manufacture and/or market vehicles. GM also has equity stakes in China entities, principally involving vehicles sold through SAIC General Motors Sales Co., Ltd. and SAIC GM Wuling Automobile Co., Ltd.

The company sells both internal-combustion-engine vehicles and electric vehicles. Trucks and SUVs are central to the portfolio, while Chevrolet and GMC address mainstream truck, SUV and crossover customers and Cadillac serves the luxury segment. GM is also developing hybrid vehicles and battery technologies.

Beyond the vehicle itself, GM equips vehicles with OnStar connected services and Super Cruise hands-free driver assistance. OnStar supports safety, infotainment, connectivity and driver-assistance features, while the software platform can deliver features, applications and services over the air. Super Cruise can enable hands-free driving on more than 600,000 miles of compatible roads in the U.S. and Canada when its conditions are met.

GM Financial is the company’s captive finance business. It provides retail loans and leases, dealer inventory financing and other commercial lending. GM Defense also supplies products and systems to government and defense customers.

How it makes money

GM’s largest revenue source is automotive wholesale sales: sales of vehicles to dealers and distributors, plus sales to the U.S. Government. Wholesale volume is closely linked to automotive revenue. The company also earns revenue from automotive parts, software-enabled services and subscriptions.

Vehicle profitability depends on volume, vehicle mix, pricing and cost. GM identifies full-size pickup trucks and SUVs as high-margin products, and says its ICE portfolio is a key driver of financial and market performance. Pricing is supported through dealer, retail and fleet incentives, including customer rebates and finance-rate support. The level of those incentives depends on demand and competition.

GM Financial adds a second major income stream. It earns lease income, retail finance-charge income and commercial finance-charge income by lending across the credit spectrum, leasing vehicles, financing dealer inventory and making dealer loans. It funds lending through credit facilities, securitizations and unsecured debt. Financing can support vehicle sales as well as generate GM Financial earnings.

Software and services create revenue after a vehicle sale. OnStar and Super Cruise are the principal named offerings. In the third quarter of 2026, OnStar Digital and Super Cruise generated recognized revenue of over $800 million. GM expects more than $3 billion in realized revenue from those activities for calendar year 2026 and said deferred software-and-services revenue was on pace to approach $7.5 billion by year-end.

In 2025, GM recorded wholesale vehicle sales. In the third quarter of 2026, it reported revenue of $50 billion and EBIT-adjusted of $4.1 billion.

Customers and how it sells

GM reaches retail customers primarily through independent authorized dealers, distributors and authorized sales, service and parts outlets. Dealers sell vehicles, provide maintenance and repairs, offer accessories and extended service warranties, and generally help customers access credit, leases, insurance and service contracts. GM had 4,566 authorized dealerships and similar agents in GM North America and 6,276 in GM International at December 31, 2025.

Its customers also include fleet buyers: daily rental companies, commercial fleet customers, leasing companies and governments. Fleet sales can be less profitable than retail sales, particularly sales to daily rental companies. GM Financial’s commercial customers include dealers and commercial vehicle upfitters.

North America is the company’s largest vehicle market. GM sold vehicles in the U.S. in 2025, representing 17.2% market share. It sold 1.9 million vehicles in China, for 7.1% market share, and has operations elsewhere in Asia/Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and South America. In 2025, 27.5% of wholesale vehicle sales volume was generated outside the U.S.

China is served in part through Automotive China joint ventures. The company also sells through its dealer network in other markets and can redirect vehicles between markets when conditions permit.

Suppliers and costs

GM operates a U.S. network of 50 manufacturing plants and parts facilities in 19 states, including 11 vehicle assembly plants. It purchases raw materials, systems, components, parts, semiconductors, energy, freight, transportation and other services from numerous suppliers. Key raw materials include steel, aluminum, resins, copper, lead and precious metals.

Material cost makes up approximately two-thirds of automotive and other cost of sales. The rest includes labor, depreciation and amortization, engineering, freight, warranty expense and recall campaigns. GM also has substantial fixed costs from property, plant and equipment and labor arrangements.

Some components and supplies come from a single source, exposing production to disruption if that supplier cannot provide parts. Combined purchases from the two largest suppliers were approximately 12% of total purchases in 2025. EV battery-material processing and extraction are concentrated in China, and GM is pursuing supply agreements, offtake arrangements and investments to secure materials including lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements.

The company said commodity inflation, logistics and DRAM costs were expected to create an approximately $2 billion full-year 2026 headwind. It also said it was investing approximately $1 to $1.5 billion in 2026 to onshore production, strengthen supply chains and expand software capabilities.

Competitive position

GM competes globally on vehicle design, price, quality, options, safety, reliability, fuel economy or range, functionality, customer service and financing. It competes with established automakers, newer automotive entrants, software and ridesharing services supported by technology companies, and manufacturers from lower-cost production countries. In China, it faces aggressive competition from global manufacturers, domestic manufacturers and domestic technology companies.

The company’s U.S. position is concentrated in trucks, SUVs and crossovers. Its U.S. truck share was 33.0% in 2025, and management said GM held more than 42% of the U.S. full-size pickup market through the first half of 2026, more than 10 percentage points ahead of its closest competitor. Management also said its current Silverado and Sierra had achieved 19 consecutive quarters of U.S. sales leadership.

GM’s potential competitive advantages include its manufacturing footprint, dealer and service network, truck and SUV portfolio, brands, captive finance operation, software platform and installed base of connected vehicles. Its financing operation can support sales across economic cycles, while OnStar and Super Cruise can produce service revenue after the initial vehicle transaction.

Our reading: GM’s truck position is a meaningful moat in North America because the company reports large market shares in a high-margin category, though vehicle pricing and mix remain exposed to industry competition. [item1, item1a, call_prepared]

Our reading: The dealer network, GM Financial and software services reinforce vehicle sales and ownership relationships, but software and automated-driving capabilities face competition from established manufacturers and technology companies. [item1, item1a, call_prepared]

Growth opportunities

GM’s growth plan spans vehicle launches, software and services, financing, defense, battery technology and manufacturing localization. The company is launching next-generation Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra light-duty pickups and expects additional full-size-truck capacity in 2028 after the changeover period. It also plans next-generation Cadillac ICE launches through 2028 and says it will add hybrids without additional capital expenditure and engineering.

Software-enabled services are intended to expand revenue after the initial vehicle sale. GM expects Super Cruise penetration in full-size trucks to grow four to five times in 2027 as it becomes standard on high-end Silverado and Sierra light-duty trims and available on most others. It expects to grow the Super Cruise installed base by close to 50% next year. The company said it added OnStar subscriptions and had a Super Cruise-equipped car park.

GM is also working to improve EV economics by resizing capacity to demand, reducing battery costs and deploying next-generation battery cells and packs. It expects further EV-profitability improvement in 2027 and another improvement in 2028 as lithium manganese-rich batteries and next-generation cells and packs are introduced.

Manufacturing localization is another stated lever. GM is onshoring significant production beginning in 2027 and said this will bring U.S. production capacity to more than 2 million units while reducing tariff exposure. GM Defense expects annual top-line growth of more than 30% with double-digit margins from new multi-year contract awards.

Structural risks

• Cyclicality and fixed costs. Vehicle demand depends on economic conditions, credit availability and consumer spending. GM has a high proportion of fixed structural costs, so small changes in sales volume can have a disproportionately large effect on profitability.

• Truck and SUV dependence. Near-term profitability depends particularly on full-size ICE SUVs and full-size ICE pickup trucks, where GM currently recognizes its highest profit margins. A shift toward smaller or more fuel-efficient vehicles could weaken demand for these products.

• EV execution and demand. GM’s EV strategy depends on profitable vehicles, battery costs, supply of materials, manufacturing scale and consumer adoption. Slower North American demand prompted a reassessment of EV capacity and manufacturing footprint, with 2025 GMNA charges of $7.9 billion.

• Tariffs, commodities and supply disruption. Tariffs on vehicles, parts and inputs remain subject to change. Commodity, raw-material, energy, logistics and semiconductor costs can rise, while single-source components and China-concentrated battery-material processing can interrupt supply.

• China and global competition. China faces intense competition, evolving regulation and trade tensions. GM said competitive conditions and the operating environment there have affected profitability and the ability of its China joint ventures to grow sales.

• Technology, safety and regulatory exposure. Software, connected services, ADAS and autonomous-driving development require capital and technical talent. Errors, vulnerabilities, privacy issues, recalls, changing emissions rules and vehicle-safety requirements can create costs, liability, regulatory scrutiny or reduced customer acceptance.

Bottom line

Our reading

Our reading: GM is a large-scale vehicle manufacturer whose earnings are anchored by North American trucks and SUVs, supported by a dealer network and captive finance business. [item1, item7, call_prepared]

Our reading: Software services, Super Cruise, onshored production and defense offer additional growth paths, but the business remains exposed to cyclical vehicle demand, high fixed costs, commodity and tariff costs, EV execution and intense competition. [item1, item1a, call_prepared]

Our reading: The company’s reported U.S. truck position provides an operating base, while China, EV profitability and technology development remain areas requiring execution. [item1, item1a, call_prepared]