General Motors Company (GM): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

Is the century-old powerhouse General Motors Company (GM) still just a truck and SUV company, even with a projected 2025 net income between $7.7 billion and $8.3 billion? You might think so, but the real story is in the pivot, where they are now the second-largest EV seller in the U.S. and posted a record 66,501 EV deliveries in Q3 2025 alone. The near-term profits still lean on big vehicles, but the long-term value is defintely shifting to high-margin software and services like OnStar and Super Cruise, which is already generating almost $5 billion in deferred revenue and expecting 70% gross margins. To truly understand how General Motors Company makes money today-and how they're planning to make a lot more tomorrow-you have to look past the sheet metal.

General Motors Company (GM) History

General Motors Company's Founding Timeline

General Motors Company, or GM, is an American automotive icon, but its origin was less about engineering and more about financial consolidation. The company was born from the vision of a carriage magnate who saw the future in assembling a portfolio of competing automobile brands.

Year established

The company was officially established on September 16, 1908, as a holding company, not a manufacturing one.

Original location

GM was founded in Flint, Michigan, a city that was already a hub for William C. Durant's successful carriage business.

Founding team members

The primary founder was William C. Durant, a master of mergers and acquisitions. Key early figures who brought in essential manufacturing and management expertise included Charles Stewart Mott of Weston-Mott Company (a major auto parts supplier) and later, Alfred P. Sloan.

Initial capital/funding

The initial capitalization for the holding company was a surprisingly small $2,000. Durant immediately used this structure to acquire Buick Motor Company the following day, kicking off his brand-consolidation strategy.

General Motors Company's Evolution Milestones

GM's history is a series of aggressive acquisitions, revolutionary management changes, and near-death experiences, all leading to its current state as a technology-focused mobility company.

General Motors Company's Transformative Moments

Two moments fundamentally reshaped GM: the post-Durant reorganization and the 2009 bankruptcy, but the current pivot to electric vehicles (EVs) is just as critical.

Durant's initial vision was a sprawling collection of companies, but it was Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.'s management principles in the 1920s that truly created the modern GM. He translated the chaos into a decentralized concept of management-allowing divisions like Cadillac and Chevrolet to operate with autonomy while benefiting from central corporate policy and finance. This structure allowed GM to offer a clear brand hierarchy and ultimately surpass Ford by 1929.

The 2009 Chapter 11 reorganization was a forced reset. The company emerged as the 'new GM,' a leaner entity that shed brands like Pontiac, Saturn, and Hummer. This painful process allowed the company to survive and refocus on its most profitable segments, primarily trucks and SUVs in North America.

Today's transformation is the shift from internal combustion engines (ICE) to electric vehicles and autonomous driving. GM is investing heavily, with a plan to spend $35 billion on EVs and autonomous vehicle technology between 2020 and 2025. The financial guidance for the 2025 fiscal year reflects this dual focus and investment strain, but also the expected profitability of the core business:

• Adjusted Earnings Per Share (EPS) is forecast in a strong range of $11 to $12.
• Net income attributable to shareholders is projected between $11.2 billion and $12.5 billion.
• Capital spending for 2025 is set at $10 billion to $11 billion, showing the defintely high cost of the EV transition.
• Adjusted automotive free cash flow is expected to be robust, between $10 billion and $11 billion.

This massive investment is a bet on the Ultium battery platform and its ability to power a broad portfolio of electric cars and trucks, like the Chevrolet Silverado EV and Cadillac LYRIQ. You can dive deeper into the current investor landscape and strategy in our analysis: Exploring General Motors Company (GM) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

General Motors Company (GM) Ownership Structure

General Motors Company's ownership structure is heavily weighted toward institutional investors, which is typical for a major, publicly-traded U.S. automaker. This means that large asset managers and funds, rather than individual retail investors, control the vast majority of the company's stock and therefore its governance.

General Motors Company's Current Status

General Motors Company is a publicly traded multinational automotive manufacturing company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol GM. This public status subjects the company to rigorous reporting and regulatory oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), ensuring a high degree of transparency for all stakeholders. The stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the S&P 100, and the S&P 500, signaling its importance and liquidity in the broader U.S. market.

You can get a deeper dive into the company's financial health by reading Breaking Down General Motors Company (GM) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

General Motors Company's Ownership Breakdown

As of late 2025, institutional investors-think Vanguard Group Inc., BlackRock, Inc., and State Street Corp-hold the overwhelming majority of General Motors Company's outstanding shares. This concentration of ownership means that the company's strategic direction is defintely influenced by the interests and voting power of these large financial institutions.

Here's the quick math on the breakdown of ownership percentages, based on the latest available filings for fiscal year 2025:

General Motors Company's Leadership

General Motors Company is steered by a seasoned executive team, with strategic oversight from the Board of Directors. The leadership is currently focused on navigating the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and software-defined vehicles, while maintaining the profitability of its core internal combustion engine (ICE) business.

• Mary T. Barra: Chair and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). She leads the global strategy, driving the company toward an all-electric future.
• Mark Reuss: President. He manages global product development, quality, and performance, having played a key role in developing vehicles like the Cadillac LYRIQ and the Hummer EV.
• Paul Jacobson: Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He oversees all financial operations, including investor relations and capital allocation.
• Duncan Aldred: Senior Vice President and President, GM North America. He heads the crucial North American operations, focusing on regional sales and market strategy.
• Daniel E. Berce: Senior Vice President, President, and CEO of GM Financial. He manages the captive finance subsidiary, which is vital for supporting dealer and customer financing.

Recent executive moves, announced in November 2025, highlight a focus on global growth and brand strength. John Roth, previously Vice President of Global Cadillac, is succeeding Steve Hill as Senior Vice President and President of GM China. Meanwhile, Kristian Aquilina is set to assume the role of Vice President of Global Cadillac effective January 1, 2026.

General Motors Company (GM) Mission and Values

General Motors Company's (GM) mission and values go beyond quarterly earnings, centering on a bold, long-term vision to redefine mobility through safety, sustainability, and efficiency. This framework-the 'Triple Zero Vision'-is the cultural DNA driving their massive strategic pivot toward electric and autonomous vehicles.

General Motors Company's Core Purpose

As a seasoned analyst, I see GM's corporate purpose as a clear roadmap for their $35 billion investment in electric and autonomous vehicles through 2025; it's not just about selling cars, but about engineering a fundamental change in how the world moves. The company's commitment to this vision is defintely a core factor in evaluating its long-term equity value.

For a deeper dive into their market position and the players betting on this transformation, you can read Exploring General Motors Company (GM) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Official mission statement

The mission statement is a direct call to action focused on customer relationships and product excellence, which is crucial in a competitive, high-tech industry.

• Earn customers for life by building brands that inspire passion and loyalty through total commitment to excellence in everything we do.

Here's the quick math: Earning a customer for life means the lifetime value of a customer (LTV) is paramount, justifying the heavy investment in quality and new technology like the Ultium battery platform.

Vision statement

GM's vision, often called the 'Triple Zero Vision,' is an ambitious, industry-leading goal that maps out the future of transportation. It directly informs their product development, including the plan to launch 30 new electric vehicles (EVs) globally by the end of 2025.

• A world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion.

This vision is backed by concrete near-term targets, like the goal to source 100% renewable energy in the U.S. by 2025, which shows a tangible link between the vision and operational strategy. They also aim to have Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) in most vehicles by 2025 to address the 'zero crashes' component. That's a clear, actionable goal.

General Motors Company Core Values

GM's core values are the behavioral guardrails for achieving the Triple Zero Vision, emphasizing accountability and a forward-thinking culture.

• Customers: All interactions focus on delivering value and delight.
• Excellence: Driven by ingenuity and innovation.
• Relationships: Built on trust and collaboration, both inside and outside the company.
• Seek Truth: Encouraging fact-based candor and challenging assumptions respectfully.
• Integrity: Doing the right thing consistently, never compromising on safety.

The focus on Excellence is evident in the projected 59% increase in EV wholesale volumes to 300,000 units in 2025, a number that demands operational precision.

General Motors Company slogan/tagline

The current corporate tagline is simple, inclusive, and directly tied to the shift toward an all-electric future. It's a marketing call to action for customers, partners, and employees alike.

• Everybody In.

This slogan signals that the electric vehicle (EV) revolution is for everyone, not just the luxury market, aligning with their strategy to offer EVs across a range of price points.

General Motors Company (GM) How It Works

General Motors Company (GM) operates by balancing its highly profitable, traditional full-size truck and SUV business with an aggressive, multi-billion-dollar pivot toward electric vehicles (EVs) and software-defined mobility. The company makes money by designing, manufacturing, and selling vehicles across four core U.S. brands-Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac-plus a significant revenue stream from its captive finance arm, GM Financial, and a growing portfolio of subscription services like OnStar and Super Cruise.

Honestly, the core business still funds the future: those high-margin trucks and SUVs are paying for the massive investment in the Ultium battery platform and autonomous driving technology. For fiscal year 2025, the company has raised its adjusted EBITDA forecast to a range of $12 billion to $13 billion, with projected adjusted earnings per share (EPS) between $11.00 and $12.00, showing the strength of this dual strategy.

General Motors Company's Product/Service Portfolio

GM's portfolio is strategically split between its cash-cow internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and its future-defining EVs, all underpinned by a growing suite of connected services.

General Motors Company's Operational Framework

GM's operational structure is centered on a global, standardized, and increasingly regionalized manufacturing base that prioritizes scale and flexibility, especially in the EV transition.

• Ultium Platform Centralization: The company uses its proprietary Ultium battery and propulsion platform as the foundation for nearly all new EVs, from the Chevrolet Equinox EV to the GMC Hummer EV. This standardization drives economies of scale (reducing battery costs) and speeds up development across brands.
• Software-Defined Vehicles (SDV): GM is transitioning to the Ultifi software platform, a Linux-based architecture designed to enable over-the-air (OTA) updates for new features and bug fixes. This shift creates recurring revenue streams from services and subscriptions, moving beyond the one-time vehicle sale model.
• Regionalized Supply Chain: To mitigate geopolitical and tariff risks, GM is actively directing suppliers to move parts out of China for North American-built vehicles, with a goal of achieving greater supply chain resiliency by 2027. This domestic focus is key to managing costs and lead times.
• Massive Production Ramp-up: The operational goal is to achieve an annual EV production capacity of over 1 million units in North America by the end of 2025, requiring a capital expenditure (CapEx) of around $10.0 billion to $11.0 billion this fiscal year.

This is a huge, defintely multi-year retooling effort.

General Motors Company's Strategic Advantages

GM's success in the coming decade hinges on leveraging its legacy strengths while executing its technology-first strategy.

• Ultium Technology Lead: The Ultium battery platform offers a distinct edge in flexibility and energy density, allowing GM to build a diverse EV portfolio-from luxury SUVs to heavy-duty trucks-on a single, scalable architecture. This is a crucial cost and performance advantage.
• Unmatched Scale and Brand Equity: As one of the world's largest automakers, GM benefits from significant economies of scale in manufacturing, procurement, and distribution. Plus, brands like Chevrolet and Cadillac have deep, long-standing customer loyalty, especially in the highly profitable U.S. truck and SUV segments.
• Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS): GM's Super Cruise hands-free driving technology is a market differentiator, available on over 400,000 miles of compatible roads in North America. This technology is a critical bridge to the future of personal-use autonomous vehicles.
• Financial Strength to Fund the Future: The robust profitability of its ICE business provides the necessary capital to fund the aggressive EV and autonomous vehicle investment, unlike many pure-play EV startups. They can invest heavily without overly compromising the balance sheet.

You can learn more about the long-term roadmap here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of General Motors Company (GM).

General Motors Company (GM) How It Makes Money

General Motors Company primarily makes money by designing, manufacturing, and selling a diverse portfolio of vehicles-mostly high-margin trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs)-in North America, but a significant and growing portion of its revenue comes from its captive finance arm, General Motors Financial Company, Inc. (GM Financial).

You're looking at a company undergoing a massive, expensive transition to electric vehicles (EVs) while still relying heavily on its traditional, highly profitable internal combustion engine (ICE) business to fund that future. It's a dual-engine financial model.

General Motors Company's Revenue Breakdown

Based on the most recent financial reporting, General Motors Company's revenue streams for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ending Q3 2025, which totaled approximately $187.435 billion, show a clear reliance on core automotive sales, even as the financial services segment shows stronger growth momentum.

The core business, Automotive Sales, is still the engine, generating roughly $169.41 billion of the TTM revenue, but it's facing headwinds from softer demand and pricing pressure, hence the Q3 year-over-year decline.

Business Economics

General Motors Company's business economics are centered on maximizing profit from its North American truck and SUV dominance while managing the immense fixed costs of the EV transition and navigating geopolitical risks.

• Pricing Power: The company continues to show pricing discipline, forecasting a North American pricing increase of 0.5% to 1.0% for the full year 2025, which helps offset rising costs. They aren't chasing volume at all costs.
• High-Margin Mix: Profitability is driven by the sale of full-size pickups and SUVs under the Chevrolet and GMC brands, which command higher average transaction prices (ATPs) and better margins than smaller vehicles.
• Financial Services Buffer: GM Financial acts as a crucial profit stabilizer, providing financing for both dealers and customers, which directly supports vehicle sales and contributes significantly to net income. Its adjusted earnings before taxes (EBT-adjusted) are projected to range from $2.5 billion to $3.0 billion in 2025. That's a defintely reliable stream of cash.
• Cost Headwinds: A major near-term risk is the projected gross tariff impact of $4 billion to $5 billion for the 2025 fiscal year. Management is aiming to mitigate at least 30% of this through domestic production increases and cost controls.
• EV Scale-Up: The long-term economic bet is on the Ultium battery platform, with a forecast of 300,000 wholesale EV units in 2025, a 59% jump from 2024, which is key to achieving economies of scale and reducing per-vehicle battery costs.

General Motors Company's Financial Performance

The 2025 financial outlook reflects a strategic balancing act: strong core profitability funding the future of mobility, even as market pressures compress margins in the short term. Here's the quick math on the full-year projections.

• Adjusted EBIT: The company has maintained its full-year 2025 guidance for Adjusted Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT-adjusted) between $10 billion and $12.5 billion. This is the clearest measure of operational health.
• Net Income: Full-year Net Income attributable to shareholders is guided to be in the range of $7.7 billion to $9.5 billion.
• Earnings Per Share (EPS): The consensus analyst estimate for Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share (EPS-diluted-adjusted) for the current fiscal year (2025) is $10.32.
• Cash Flow Strength: Adjusted Automotive Free Cash Flow is expected to be robust, recently revised upward to a range of $10 billion to $11 billion, providing significant capital for EV investment and shareholder returns.
• Cruise Cost Control: The company projects approximately $500 million in year-over-year cost reductions from the Cruise autonomous driving division in 2025, showing a focus on financial discipline in non-core areas.

For a deeper dive into the balance sheet and liquidity, you should check out Breaking Down General Motors Company (GM) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors. Finance: Monitor the Q4 2025 tariff mitigation progress against the $4 billion to $5 billion impact forecast by year-end.

General Motors Company (GM) Market Position & Future Outlook

General Motors Company (GM) is navigating a complex transition, but its market position remains strong, holding the top spot in U.S. overall sales as of Q3 2025. The company's future outlook hinges on balancing its highly profitable traditional portfolio-especially trucks and SUVs-with the aggressive, yet costly, rollout of its Ultium electric vehicle (EV) platform, all while managing significant geopolitical and supply chain risks.

For the fiscal year 2025, General Motors has raised its financial forecast, projecting an adjusted EBITDA between $12 billion and $13 billion and adjusted automotive free cash flow of $10 billion to $11 billion, signaling confidence in its near-term operational execution. The real test is converting EV investments into sustainable, high-margin revenue streams, which is defintely the long game.

Competitive Landscape

Opportunities & Challenges

Industry Position

General Motors Company holds the U.S. sales crown, with a year-to-date market share of 17.2% through Q3 2025. That's a powerful position to start from.

• GM leads the full-size pickup market for the 6th straight year and the full-size SUV market for the 51st consecutive year, highlighting the strength of its core internal combustion engine (ICE) business.
• In the electric vehicle space, General Motors is the second-leading EV seller in the U.S. with a 13.8% share of U.S. all-electric vehicle sales as of Q3 2025, driven by models like the Chevrolet Equinox EV.
• The company is mitigating tariff risks by investing $4 billion to localize production in North America and increase U.S. content, aiming to offset a significant portion of the anticipated tariff costs.
• Its strategy is a dual one: lean into profitable ICE segments for cash flow while aggressively scaling the Ultium platform to achieve the long-term vision of Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of General Motors Company (GM).

What this estimate hides is the volatility of the EV transition; the company is reducing its exposure to the Cruise robotaxi project while focusing on personal autonomous vehicles and software-defined vehicles, aiming for hands-off driving by 2028.