General Motors Chevrolet Traverse sport utility vehicles sit on the assembly line at the company’s Lansing Delta Township Assembly Plant in Lansing, Michigan, Feb. 21, 2020.
Jeff Kowalsky | Bloomberg | Getty Images
DETROIT — General Motors expects to outproduce crosstown rival Ford Motor to become the top assembler of vehicles in the U.S. in the coming years.
GM CEO and Chair Mary Barra announced the target Tuesday as the company reported its 2025 earnings and gave a 2026 outlook that included between $3 billion and $4 billion in expected tariff costs.
“As we look further ahead, our annual production in the U.S. is expected to rise to an industry-leading 2 million units,” Barra told investors, detailing previously announced plans to increase domestic production.
GM’s push to increase domestic production comes as tariffs from importing vehicles to the U.S. 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 it ramps up production. The automaker next year 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 idled plant in Michigan.
Aside from helping GM reduce its expected tariff costs, achieving that auto production goal would take the title away from Ford, which has touted it in advertising and marketing efforts in recent years.
Ford, which has called itself the “most American” automaker, assembled 2.1 million vehicles in the U.S., as of 2024, with 80% of its U.S. sales being assembled domestically.
GM, meanwhile, is historically the top-seller of vehicles in the U.S., but also was the largest importer of new vehicles to America in 2024, Bloomberg News reported last year. It imported approximately 1.23 million units that year — nearly half of its 2024 U.S. sales, according to the report.
Trucks make their way to the Ambassador Bridge to cross into the United States at Detroit on April 1, 2025 in Windsor, Canada.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images
Ford said it is proud to be America’s No. 1 auto producer since 2009 as well as the top exporter of American-assembled vehicles.
“That’s who we are and who we always have been regardless of policy or tariffs,” a Ford spokesman said in an emailed statement to CNBC when asked about GM’s target. “If other automakers who rely heavily on importing foreign-made cars into the U.S. are now ‘getting religion,’ that’s good news for U.S. communities. But they have a long way to go to match Ford’s commitment to America.”
GM did not immediately respond to requests 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 in tariff costs in 2025, which came despite the levies not being in effect for the whole year. That was actually below the automaker’s previously disclosed expectations of between $3.5 billion and $4.5 billion in tariff costs last year.
“We proactively managed our net tariff exposure, reducing it well below our initial expectations, thanks to self-help initiatives and policy actions that support companies like GM that have substantial and growing commitments to American manufacturing,” Barra told investors Tuesday.
GM’s expected tariff costs could be higher this year, largely depending on duties on vehicles imported from South Korea.
President Donald Trump on Monday said the U.S. would increase the tariff back to 25% after the South Korean legislature failed to approve the pact. Trump had previously said that the level would be 15%.
Barra on Tuesday said GM is “hopeful” the U.S. and South Korea can finalize a new trade deal that includes a 15% tariff on vehicles exported to the U.S. from South Korea, which was the number used in GM’s 2026 forecast.
“We’re really encouraging the countries to get the trade deal done that they agreed to last October,” Barra told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau during “Squawk Box.”
GM is the second-largest U.S. importer of vehicles from South Korea behind South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor. The Detroit automaker relies heavily on plants in the country for entry-level vehicles such as the Chevrolet Trax and Buick Envista.
