General Motors is pouring $340 million into factories that churn out parts for gasoline vehicles. The cash targets two Michigan and Ohio plants building transmissions and engine components for trucks and SUVs. Demand for electric cars has faltered. Hard.
Mike Trevorrow, GM’s senior vice president of global manufacturing, put it bluntly to Business Insider. “The demand for EVs didn’t go as quickly as we thought it was going to be, so we’re kind of shifting back to make sure we give them the ICE vehicles.” ICE means internal combustion engines—the gas guzzlers that still rule American roads. This move ramps up output for full-size trucks, SUVs, and the Chevrolet Corvette. Profit powerhouses, all.
And it’s not pocket change. The $340 million forms part of an $830 million package across three facilities, including prior spending at Romulus and Saginaw. GM has sunk over $6 billion into U.S. manufacturing in the last year alone. New machines for boring, drilling, and processing. Facility expansions. Retooling where needed. Workforce? Steady. No big hiring spree.
EV sales tell the story. GM’s U.S. deliveries plunged in the first quarter. Blazer EV: down 82%. Silverado EV: off 41% year-over-year. Overall, GM moved 25,851 EVs, a 19% drop from last year, per GM Authority. The broader U.S. market? A 27% EV sales slump, says Cox Automotive, cited in the Business Insider report. Tax credits? Gone. The $7,500 federal incentive for U.S.-built EVs vanished, hammering demand.
Billions Burned on EV Overreach
GM isn’t walking away unscathed. The company shelled out $2.2 billion in the latest quarter on EV pullbacks—canceled contracts, supplier claims. That’s on top of massive prior hits. Nearly $8.7 billion in EV-related charges since late 2025. A $1.1 billion strike in Q1 2026 alone stemmed from supplier deals inked when EV hype ruled, according to Yahoo Finance. CFO Paul Jacobson addressed it on the earnings call: “Our focus remains on improving EV profitability and scaling our business as market adoption grows, albeit at a slower expected pace than we had previously seen.” Slower. Understatement.
Policy whiplash accelerated the pain. Pro-fossil fuel shifts under the Trump administration axed incentives and eased emissions rules. GM booked $7.6 billion in writedowns last year, pivoting plants like Orion, Michigan, from EVs to gas-powered SUVs and pickups. The New York Times detailed a $7.1 billion Q4 2025 loss tied to battery factories and assembly lines now deemed overvalued. Consumers balked. High interest rates. Charging worries. Preference for hybrids sneaking in.
One EV bites the dust: the Canada-built BrightDrop van. The Chevy Bolt? Back in limited production at Fairfax, Kansas. “We have not gotten rid of any EV production,” Trevorrow insists to Business Insider. But actions speak. GM leads U.S. sales overall with 626,000 deliveries in Q1, per its investor site. Full-size pickups? Market share up. Cadillac EVs? Grew 20% to 9,500 units. Yet trucks and hybrids carry the load.
Industry echoes the retreat. Ford took a $19.5 billion write-down. Stellantis? $26.5 billion. Billions flushed on EV bets that missed. GM raised its full-year profit outlook to $13-15 billion anyway, banking on gas vehicles’ margins. Q1 net income: $2.6 billion, down 6% but resilient amid the $1.1 billion EV charge, as BNN Bloomberg reports.
China Looms, Hybrids Rise
Competition sharpens. Chinese makers flood with cheap EVs—sub-$20,000 tags, fast charging, global push. Trevorrow shrugs it off. “We’re a global company. We believe we build the best vehicles at the best values through any of those markets,” he told Business Insider. Reputation matters. Longevity too.
But hybrids? The real winners now. Buyers crave efficiency without range anxiety. GM eyes plug-ins. Ford’s F-150 hybrid sells hot. Toyota never quit them. Gas prices climb—Middle East tensions help—but not enough to flip the switch to full EVs. GM’s Q1 revenue dipped under 1% to $43.6 billion, yet adjusted earnings beat at $3.70 per share, per Seeking Alpha. Software sales, truck demand, tariff refunds cushion the blow.
Trevorrow calls the investments “good news, really, for the United States.” Customers get what they want. Capacity matches reality. EVs? Not dead. Just paused. GM holds No. 2 U.S. EV spot, market share ticking up to 13% in March. Equinox EV led with 9,589 units. But gas engines? They’re the cash cow keeping Detroit afloat. For now. And likely longer.
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