Looking for guidance?
Amid tariff-related uncertainty, it may be hard to find in the auto industry. In releasing Q1 earnings, automakers suspended financial guidance, slashed profit forecasts, and cut outlooks for vehicle deliveries.
In a research note, Wedbush Securities analysts said the tariff situation “will change the paradigm for the US auto industry for years to come.”
Crunching numbers: Rivian reported gross profit of $206 million in Q1, the second consecutive quarter in which it posted a gross profit. This allowed the company to unlock $1 billion in funding from Volkswagen Group as part of the terms of a joint venture between the two companies.
Ford’s net income ($471 million), revenue ($40.7 billion), and adjusted EBIT ($1 billion) all fell from a year ago. The automaker’s EV business reported an EBIT loss of $849 million, better than Q1 2024’s EBIT loss of $1.3 billion.
General Motors reported $2.8 billion in net income (down 6.6% YoY) on revenue of $44 billion (up 2.3%). Adjusted EBIT of nearly $3.5 billion was down 9.8%.
Tariff talk: The Trump administration recently gave the auto industry some relief on tariffs, but 25% levies on imported vehicles remain in place. Experts have estimated that the tariffs could add about $100 billion in annual costs for the domestic auto industry.
Changes to trade policy have dominated recent corporate earnings reports and calls. Even companies like Tesla, which makes its US vehicles domestically, have reported impacts from the tariffs. Amid myriad challenges, Tesla recently reported a 71% YoY drop in profits and said it would “revisit” its guidance later.
Rivian builds its vehicles in the US, but warned that it “is not immune to the impacts of the global trade and economic environment.” CEO RJ Scaringe said he expects to see impacts on “material costs, material availability, capital expenditures, and the demand backdrop.”
Keep up with the innovative tech transforming business
Tech Brew keeps business leaders up-to-date on the latest innovations, automation advances, policy shifts, and more, so they can make informed decisions about tech.
The company revised downward its delivery outlook for the year, to 40,000 to 46,000 deliveries, down from an expected range of 46,000 to 51,000, and boosted its capital expenditure guidance from $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion.
CFO Claire McDonough said Rivian has enough battery cells in the US to support production “into early 2026.” She estimated that each Rivian vehicle will face a “couple thousand dollars” of tariff impact.
Ford estimated it would see a $1.5 billion hit to adjusted EBIT this year due to tariffs. It suspended its profit guidance for the year, citing “material near-term risks, especially the potential for industrywide supply chain disruption impacting production, the potential for future or increased tariffs in the US, changes in the implementation of tariffs including tariff offsets, retaliatory tariffs and other restrictions by other governments and the potential related market impacts, and finally policy uncertainties associated with tax and emissions policy.”
GM lowered its full-year adjusted EBIT guidance and estimated its tariff exposure to be between $4 billion and $5 billion, though CFO Paul Jacobson said the company should be able to offset 30% of those increases.
CEO Mary Barra said GM has taken steps such as boosting domestic production of full-size pickup trucks and is “developing plans to further increase US vehicle production.”
“GM teams are also working directly with our suppliers to further increase their US content and drive even higher levels of USMCA compliance,” she said. “And we are increasing production of US assembled battery modules, a low-cost way to increase US content. Alongside these actions, we are scrutinizing our discretionary spending everywhere and we are taking steps to ensure that we stay aligned with a strong consumer demand for our ICE vehicles and the evolving regulatory environment around vehicle emissions.”