GM and Ford Forecast $2 Billion in Added Material and Logistics Costs for 2026

General Motors and Ford each told investors they expect commodities, computer memory and logistics costs to add about $2 billion to their expenses on a year-over-year basis. GM is also carrying roughly $2.5 billion in tariff costs, a figure the company's chief financial officer, Paul Jacobson, said came in below earlier projections after tariff refunds offset part of the bill.

The cost pressures sit alongside revenue growth across the three largest Detroit automakers. GM reported revenue up 2.9 percent over the past year, Ford posted a 2 percent rise, and Stellantis recorded 1 percent growth. Truck sales moved higher as well: GM's light-duty truck sales climbed 9 percent, Stellantis' U.S. pickup sales rose 34 percent, and Ford's F-Series remained a company bestseller. The average new vehicle transaction price reached just over $50,000 in September, according to Kelley Blue Book.

Sherry Ann House, Ford's chief financial officer, said on an investor call that "customers have been resilient amid higher fuel prices, interest rates and inflation." She added that higher fuel prices were affecting Ford's freight and energy costs but had not yet reduced customer demand for trucks and fleet vehicles. Ford CEO Jim Farley gave the same roughly $2 billion figure for commodities, memory and logistics on the company's earnings call.

Jacobson told investors on GM's earnings call that prices for steel, copper and computer chips had all risen, saying, "Should we see prices at this level, it makes that more challenging heading into next year." Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa told investors that higher memory chip and raw material prices "will be an industry-wide phenomenon to work with." Tariffs imposed since 2025 on imported steel, aluminum and copper have added to those material costs, while copper demand has also grown with electric vehicle batteries and data centers. Diesel has climbed to an average $6.35 a gallon, just below its September all-time high, according to AAA.

The federal tax credit of $7,500 for electric vehicle purchases ended Sept. 30, 2025, after Congress removed it in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Data from Edmunds and Cox Automotive shows EV sales fell nationally afterward. GM reported third-quarter sales down 6 percent from the prior year, and Jacobson linked part of that decline to the smaller EV market. As of September, electric vehicles accounted for about 6 percent of new car sales in the U.S., while hybrid sales rose 27 percent over the past year, according to Edmunds.

Tesla took close to 52 percent of U.S. electric vehicle sales this year, according to Edmunds, regaining share it had lost in 2024 and 2025. Ivan Drury, director of industry insights at Edmunds, wrote that "Tesla is like the Kleenex of EVs" and that many buyers default to the brand regardless of other offerings. On Tesla's earnings call, CEO Elon Musk focused on robotaxis and humanoid robots, with capital expenditures for the year running at nearly double the prior-year figure. He also told investors on a SpaceX call that special committees at both companies were discussing a possible merger, adding, "Do I think it would be a good idea? Yes."

Sam Fiorani, a vice president at Auto Forecast Solutions, said the industry's planning cycles make such shifts costly. "This is an industry that moves at a glacial pace between generations, between vehicles, between plants," he said, adding that tariffs and cross-border disruptions throw off supply chain and profit calculations. He expects the Detroit Three to offer more hybrid vehicles in the coming years. Stellantis executives said they would provide more detail on these costs in the fourth quarter.