GM is betting big on trucks again

Top trim levels of the all-new Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra launching this autumn will come standard with the latest Super Cruise, General Motors CEO and Chair Mary Barra told Wall Street analysts during the automaker’s second quarter earnings call Tuesday.

GM expects to sell 160,000 new pickup trucks in 2027 with Super Cruise, featuring “exclusive” hands-free trailering capability next year, including both top trim levels and lower levels for which the self-driving feature will be optional, according to the automaker’s Q2 investment deck.

Barra said GM also is on-track with its “eyes-off, hands-off” version of Super Cruise by 2028 for the Cadillac Escalade IQ electric SUV, announced at an event in New York City last October. She also confirmed a new Cadillac CT5, XT5 and XT6 to debuts in 2027-28, and said the company expects the strong earnings results reported for the second quarter to continue into 2027, even in the face of $4-plus gas prices and $5-plus diesel prices, on the strength of such models as the Silverado and Sierra and hikes in production of their pricier SUV derivatives.

Although not specifically mentioned in the earnings call, an all-new Chevy Suburban, GMC Yukon/XL and Cadillac Escalade are expected for 2027 as 2028 models, coming as they usually do within a year of the new pickup trucks.

GM also is on track with sodium-ion battery development for EVs and plans to start building prototypes in the 2027-28 timeframe, Barra said.

For now, though, GM is enjoying the financial benefits of pulling back from its expansive EV program announced at the beginning of the decade. GM will reduce its EV program losses by $1-1.5 billion this year, Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson told the investment analysts, with approximately $500 million of that already realized in the first half of the year.

GM also will save between $500 million and $750 million in eased federal regulations for motor vehicles, Jacobson said. Last December, President Trump announced the roll-back of Biden administration Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards.

Trump also imposed a wide range of tariffs in 2025, with updates this year, including import taxes on parts and components that go into cars and trucks made in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Jacobson said tariffs have cost GM $1.3 billion in the first half of this year and he expects another $900 million each for the third and fourth quarters, which would cost the company about $3.1 billion for 2026.

Jacobson said he is not projecting any “pricing actions,” or increases above the normal rate for new model years this calendar year.

Looming over this is renewal of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced NAFTA during the first Trump administration, effective July 1, 2020. The USMCA has a 16-year term, though the deadline to renew it passed July 1, without any action taken.

GM earned $3.9 billion in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) from $48 billion in revenue in the second quarter, up from $3 billion for Q2 of 2025, and has upgraded its annual guidance to expect half a billion more in annual revenue as projected after the first quarter, to $14-16 billion.

The automaker also is encouraged by its OnStar success. GM expects to add 1 million in subscriptions this year, for nearly 13 million by the end of 2026, according to the investor deck. This will result in $800 million in annual revenue this year, up 20%, and $6.3 billion in deferred revenues—subscriptions—up nearly 50% for 2026.

But there is a downside. In January, class action lawsuits and individual GM owners and lessees accused GM of collecting driver data, including journey destinations and braking/accelerating data and selling it to third parties LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Verisk Analytics (per AboutLawsuits.com).