GM Warns of Softer Q4 on Truck Transition, Flat 2027 for EVs

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General Motors is warning investors to expect a softer fourth quarter as the changeover to its next-generation pickups temporarily cuts truck deliveries by roughly 35,000 units, while management also sees 2027 as a difficult year for electric vehicles. CFO Paul Jacobson said at Morgan Stanley's Laguna Conference that the truck shortfall is about the right way to think about the fourth quarter, which is typically seasonally weaker than the second and third quarters. The near-term weakness looks largely operational, but the bigger investor issue is whether GM can protect truck profits while making its EV business sustainably profitable. Pickups and SUVs remain critical profit engines for GM's North American business, which in the second quarter generated $48 billion of revenue and $3.9 billion of adjusted EBIT at an 8.6% adjusted EBIT margin, and GM raised its full-year 2026 guidance for the second time this year. Jacobson said 2027 is going to be a bit of a flat spot for EVs as profitability remains under pressure, hit first by tariffs and second by the loss of EV credits in the variable profit equation, though GM still believes EVs are a long-term opportunity. GM's next major checkpoint comes October 20, when it reports third-quarter results, with investors watching updated 2026 guidance, North American margins, truck inventories and progress reducing EV losses.

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Changeover to next-generation pickups temporarily cuts truck deliveries by roughly 35,000 units, softening Q4.

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