General Motors is on track to largely miss its goal of surpassing Tesla in EV market share in the US.
Back in 2021, CEO Mary Barra told CNBC she was “absolutely” convinced that GM would surpass Tesla as EV leader within four years.
By then, Tesla had a 63% market share in the electric segment in the US, while GM represented 10%.
Questioned by reporter Phil LeBeau if the CEO thought they could “catch Tesla by 2025,” Barra said “absolutely.”
In the same interview, the chief executive added that GM would “keep working until we have number one market share in EVs.”
Tesla‘s market share has declined over the past four years, as competition from both legacy automakers entering the segment and new pure EV makers rose.
However, it still remains at least three times larger than the combined market share of all General Motors‘ brands.
In the first nine months of 2025, and according to data from Cox Automotive, Tesla held a 43.2% share of the EV market.
GM, on the other hand, totaled 13.9%, combining Chevrolet‘s 8.3%, Cadillac‘s 3.7% and GMC’s 1.9%.
The Detroit automaker set several ambitious goals when it comes to electric vehicle production in 2021, as CEO Mary Barra targeted GM to be electric-only by 2035.
The company also planned for half of its North American and China factories be capable of making electric vehicles by 2030.
Four years ago, GM announced that it was investing $35 billion on both electric and autonomous vehicles — including battery development, new models and converting its plants to accommodate EV production.
But as of 2025, these plans have been dramatically scaled back and will cost the company $1.6 billion in the third quarter.
General Motors said earlier this week that it expects “the adoption rate of EVs to slow,” following “recent US Government policy changes,” referring to the end of the $7,500 consumer credit on EV purchases and leasing.
In August, the company had already stated that “we will almost certainly see a smaller EV market for a while, and we won’t overproduce.”
Still, GM believes that its brands can “continue to grow EV market share” after the deadline.
In the third quarter, the company delivered a record 66,501 EVs, as demand rose ahead of the credit deadline.
Tesla, on the other hand, delivered an all-time record 497,099 electric vehicles in the July-September period.
Earlier this year, General Motors announced that it was investing $4 billion to expand production of petrol-powered vehicles in several of its US factories.
It included its plants in Orion, Fairfax and Spring Hill — which were all producing electric vehicles.
Telling its employees it would produce internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles as demand was higher, GM halted its plans to produce EVs in Orion,
Last month, Reuters also reported that the company is ending production of two electric Cadillac SUVs in Spring Hill by the end of this year.
According to X user ‘alojoh,’ GM has booked over $7.1 billion in write-offs and restructuring charges in the past twelve months, according to SEC filings.
These include not only the $1.6 billion charges from its EV business slowdown, but also $4 billion for reorganizing its joint venture in China with state-owned SAIC Motor.
GM also listed nearly $800 million in losses from its premium brand Buick, $520 million related to its self-driving unit Cruise, and $47 million as it closes its factory in India.
