GM Hummer EV production in Detroit.
Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for General Motors
DETROIT – General Motors said Thursday it will record $7.1 billion in special charges for the fourth quarter of last year related to its pullback in electric vehicles and restructuring efforts in China.
The Detroit automaker said in a public filing that the charges include roughly $6 billion related to changes to its EV plans amid weakening demand and $1.1 billion, including $500 million cash, largely related to its previously announced overhaul of a Chinese joint venture.
The charges will impact GM’s net income but not adjusted results. The announcement was broadly anticipated after the Detroit automaker in October said it was reevaluating its EV plans and would initially take a $1.6 billion charge during the third quarter as a result.
GM’s new writedowns come after crosstown rival Ford Motor said in December it expected to record about $19.5 billion in special charges related to a restructuring of its business priorities and a pullback in all-electric vehicle investments.
“We continue to believe that there is a strong future for electric vehicles, and we’ve got a great portfolio to be competitive, but we do have some structural changes that we need to do to make sure that we lower the cost of producing those vehicles,” GM CFO Paul Jacobson told CNBC in October.
Automakers commonly exclude “special items” or one-time charges from their adjusted financial results to provide investors with a clearer picture of their core, ongoing business operations.
GM said the fourth-quarter EV impairments include non-cash charges of approximately $1.8 billion. The remaining $4.2 billion is related to supplier commercial settlements, contract cancellation fees and other charges, which will have a cash impact when paid.
Additional EV charges are expected to hit this year but at a lower amount than 2025’s impairments, GM said in the filing Thursday: “We expect to recognize additional material cash and non-cash charges in 2026 related to continued commercial negotiations with our supply base, which we believe will be significantly less than the EV-related charges incurred in 2025.”
The automaker also said it may incur additional charges related to its emissions credits due to proposed regulatory changes to the greenhouse gas emission standards by the Trump administration.
GM was among the first automakers to invest billions of dollars in an EV market that ultimately didn’t materialize. At one point, the company was planning to invest $30 billion in EVs, including dozens of new models and capacity for battery production.
The U.S. EV segment overall has experienced a sales slump after the Trump administration put an early end in September to a $7,500 federal tax credit previously available for EV buyers.
Shares of GM closed Thursday at $85.13, up almost 4% on the day. The stock had a banner year in 2025, gaining more than 50% to lead all major publicly traded automakers.
GM is set to report its fourth-quarter results on Jan. 27.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/08/gm-q4-charges-ev-china.html
