US, European car brands have lost $114B on EVs — – Latest News
Just two years in the past, Mary Barra, chief govt of General Motors, declared: “We believe in an all-electric future.” She went on to assert that the challenges her company was going through within the EV market had been merely momentary bumps on the street to internet zero. But as Bob Dylan famously noticed, issues have modified.
On Jan. 8, GM introduced it could take a $7.1 billion hit in expenses in opposition to its earnings, of which $6 billion is because of Barra’s failed EV strategy. In a submitting with the SEC, the company additionally warned that it could take more write-downs this 12 months as half of a “strategic realignment of EV capacity.”
The car corporations made 5.4 million EVs in three years — and incurred an astonishing $20,887 loss on every one.
GM’s transfer got here much less than a month after Ford Motor Co. introduced it was taking a $19.5 billion write-down on its EV business. Ford has racked up a jaw-dropping $35.1 billion in losses on its EV misadventure, which raises the query: why on earth does Ford chief govt Jim Farley nonetheless have a job? Ford’s EV catastrophe will go down as one of the largest fiascos in trendy car historical past, but Farley nonetheless took home $24.9 million in compensation in 2024.
Sales drops
It’s true that world EV gross sales are rising. Some 20.7 million EVs had been offered final 12 months, up 20 % from 2024, however these numbers are deceptive as a result of almost two-thirds of these EVs had been offered in China. Of the 20.7 million EV items offered, China accounted for 12.9 million and Europe for 4.3 million. Meanwhile, North American EV gross sales totaled simply 1.8 million final 12 months, or 9 % of the worldwide complete. Further, EV gross sales within the US grew by simply 1 % in 2025 and in Canada, they dropped by a whopping 41 %.
The US-based pure-play EV makers had a awful 2025. Tesla, which is now the world’s second-largest EV maker, noticed its gross sales drop 9 % in 2025. CNBC reported that it was “a stunning reversal” for Elon Musk.
Rivian obtained hammered. The EV company delivered 42,247 automobiles in 2025, an 18 % decline from the earlier 12 months’s 51,579 items. The largest drop got here within the fourth quarter and that decline was blamed on the expiration of the $7,500 tax credit on the finish of September. In addition, Kia’s EV gross sales dropped by a gorgeous 50 % in December.
It’s value contemplating what’s taking place at Porsche. In 2022, the company declared that by 2025, half of its gross sales could be both totally electric or hybrid electric, and that by 2030, all-electric automobiles would make up “more than 80 percent” of earnings. That simply hasn’t occurred. Last October, Porsche recorded a third-quarter loss of $1.1 billion. A company official mentioned the loss mirrored the price of Porsche remodeling its product portfolio to shift back to gas-powered automobiles within the face of tepid EV demand. Earlier this month, Porsche admitted it had lost $1.9 billion on its EV investments. As one information outlet famous, the losses “stem from projects that failed to attract customers, particularly in China and the US.” Sales in these markets “dropped sharply . . . prompting the company to halt or scale back several planned EV projects.”
My colleague and I have analyzed seven corporations. We picked the Big Three US brands — GM, Ford and Stellantis (Chrysler/Jeep/AMC), which we nonetheless suppose of as a US model — and the 2 European giants, Mercedes and Volkswagen. As for Tesla, we excluded it from our evaluation as a result of its earnings are padded by gross sales of regulatory credit to different automakers and by its different companies. Those details make its profit-and-loss information structurally totally different from the legacy brands we’re focusing on right here. We included Rivian and Lucid as a result of they’re pure-play EV makers, permitting us to see how their outcomes stack up in opposition to the legacy gamers.
$114B in losses
So how a lot money did the automakers lose on EVs over the previous few years, and how many EVs did they sell? Our numbers are primarily based on company information and our best efforts to tease out the right information on EVs and the losses every company has incurred on them.
For corporations similar to Ford, Lucid and Rivian, the loss figures come straight from their own SEC filings. For GM, Stellantis, Mercedes and VW, which don’t escape EV figures, we used conservative estimates primarily based on their earnings, write-downs, and our own evaluation. Among the legacy automakers, Ford is the one one that gives EV-specific financial reporting.
The losses for the seven automakers have totaled almost $114 billion. We estimate that between 2022 and the third quarter of 2025 (together with the write-downs at Ford and GM), the legacy automakers lost a mixed $83.6 billion on their EV companies. Meanwhile, Lucid and Rivian mixed for losses of about $30.2 billion.
Sixteen years and $114 billion in losses later, it’s clear that in terms of EVs, idiocy abounds.
The European automakers don’t present EV-segmented information, making an correct profitability evaluation troublesome. That mentioned, declining margins and disclosed expenses point out substantial losses. Mercedes noticed EV gross sales fall 23 % to 185,100 items in 2024, and the company introduced a $5.45 billion cost-cutting program. Last month, Mercedes reported that in 2025, its “electrified vehicle” gross sales — a phase that seems to incorporate hybrids — had been flat for the 12 months.
We additionally estimated the per vehicle losses for the automakers and extrapolated that the seven car corporations produced 5.4 million EVs between 2022 and the third quarter of 2025, and so they incurred, on average, an astonishing loss of $20,887 per EV offered.
Beyond financial losses, 1000’s of staff have been laid off resulting from EV-related restructuring. Ford has cut more than 1,400 staff at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, decreasing operations from three shifts to 1. GM laid off more than 3,400 staff throughout a number of services, together with Orion Assembly, Factory Zero and Ultium battery plants. Rivian and Lucid have additionally cut workers, slowed manufacturing unit plans and warned buyers that profitability stays years away.
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In late 2024, Volkswagen introduced it could cut 35,000 jobs by 2030, a transfer made partially resulting from its push to construct more EVs and, of course, Germany’s high power prices. In October final 12 months, Mercedes launched what it’s calling the most important layoff within the company’s historical past, with plans to encourage some 30,000 staff to go away over the following few years.
In April 2025, Stellantis mentioned it could lay off 900 staff at elements factories within the US resulting from slowing gross sales, tariffs and different elements. This January, the firm introduced it could lay off 740 staff at a manufacturing unit in Poland, partially resulting from gradual EV gross sales in Europe.
A distinct segment product
The solely actually shocking factor about these losses is how unsurprising they’re. The historical past of the EV is a century of failure tailgating failure. Further, EVs have all the time been a area of interest product primarily purchased by rich households.
More than half of all EV house owners within the US earn more than $100,000 yearly, 75 % are male and 87 % are white. Back in 2009, Johan de Nysschen, who was the president of Audi of America, made enjoyable of the new all-electric Chevy Volt, saying, “No one is going to pay a $15,000 premium for a car that competes with a Corolla.”
He continued, saying EVs are primarily “for the intellectual elite who want to show what enlightened souls they are . . . so there are not enough idiots who will buy it.”
Today — 16 years and more than $114 billion in losses later — it’s clear that in terms of EVs, idiocy abounds.
This article was initially revealed in The Spectator’s Feb. 2, 2026 World version.
