GM plans to overtake Ford in US production amid Trump’s tariffs

DETROIT — GM It expects to outperform its crosstown competitor ford motor To become the largest vehicle assembler in the United States in the coming years.

GM CEO and Chairman Mary Barra announced the target Tuesday as the company reported its 2025 earnings and provided a 2026 forecast that included between $3 billion and $4 billion in expected tariff costs.

“As we look forward, our annual U.S. production is expected to rise to an industry-leading 2 million units,” Barra told investors, detailing previously announced plans to increase domestic production.

General Motors’ efforts to increase local production come at a time when tariffs on importing cars into the United States cost the company $3.1 billion in 2025.

Based on the vehicles Barra mentioned, GM could reach its goal as early as 2027, depending on how quickly production ramps up. Next year, the automaker is scheduled to add production of gas-powered crossovers currently made in Mexico to plants in Kansas and Tennessee as well as full-size SUVs and pickup trucks to a currently mothballed plant in Michigan.

Aside from helping GM lower its expected tariff costs, achieving that goal would deny Ford the title, which it has touted in advertising and marketing efforts in recent years.

Ford, which calls itself the “most Americanized” automaker, has assembled 2.1 million vehicles in the United States, as of 2024, with 80% of its U.S. sales assembled locally.

Meanwhile, GM is historically the top-selling car company in the United States, but it was also the largest importer of new cars into America in 2024, Bloomberg News reported last year. It imported nearly 1.23 million units that year, nearly half of its 2024 U.S. sales, according to the report.

Neither Ford nor GM immediately responded for additional comment or details about their current U.S. production.

GM’s expected tariff costs this year would be in line with the automaker’s $3.1 billion tariff costs in 2025, which came despite the tariffs not being in effect for the entire year. This was actually lower than the automaker’s previously disclosed forecast of between $3.5 billion and $4.5 billion in tariff costs last year.

“We have proactively managed our net tariff exposure, reducing it below our initial expectations, thanks to self-help initiatives and policy actions that support companies like GM that have significant and growing commitments to American manufacturing,” Barra told investors on Tuesday.

GM’s expected tariff costs could be higher this year, depending largely on tariffs on vehicles imported from South Korea.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States would increase tariffs to 25% after South Korea’s legislature failed to approve the agreement. Trump had previously said that the level would be 15%.

Barra said Tuesday that GM “hopes” the United States and South Korea can finalize a new trade agreement with South Korea that includes a 15% tariff on vehicles exported to the United States from South Korea, which was used in GM’s 2026 forecast.

“We’re really encouraging countries to get the trade deal done that they agreed to last October,” Barra told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau during “Squawk Box.”

General Motors is the second-largest US importer of vehicles from South Korea after South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor. The Detroit automaker relies heavily on existing factories in the country for entry-level vehicles like the Chevrolet Trax and Buick Invista.