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How Much Are Automakers Losing on EVs? Ford, GM and the Numbers Behind the Headlines

Ford’s EV segment remains deeply unprofitable, but its reported loss improved in 2025. Here is what the figures mean—and why they are not losses on every EV sold.

By CarCody Team

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Ford’s electric-vehicle business lost $4.806 billion on an EBIT basis in 2025. That is an enormous loss, but it was actually $299 million smaller than the $5.076 billion loss reported for 2024. The comparison matters: the available filings do not show EV losses getting uniformly worse, and they do not establish that Ford lost a fixed amount on every electric car it sold.

General Motors’ cited filings describe the conditions it believes must be met for profitable EV production, but they do not provide a standalone EV-segment loss that can be compared directly with Ford Model e. The clearest conclusion is therefore narrower than the headline: Ford’s EV segment remains deeply unprofitable, while the public figures available here are not sufficient to rank every automaker’s EV losses.

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How much money is Ford losing on EVs?

Ford reports its electric-vehicle operations as the Model e operating segment. In Ford’s 2024 annual report, Model e posted a full-year EBIT loss of $5.076 billion, compared with a $4.701 billion loss in 2023. In Ford’s 2025 reporting, the segment recorded a $4.806 billion EBIT loss.

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That 2025 result is still a multibillion-dollar drain, but it improved by $299 million from 2024. Saying that Ford’s EV losses became worse in 2025 would therefore be inaccurate on the company’s reported segment-EBIT measure.

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Ford Model e measure 2023 2024 2025
Full-year EBIT -$4.701 billion -$5.076 billion -$4.806 billion
Revenue Not stated in the cited figures $3.852 billion $6.670 billion
Wholesale volume Not stated in the cited figures 105,000 units 178,000 units

Revenue and volume expanded sharply between 2024 and 2025, while the reported loss narrowed only modestly. That combination suggests a business that grew its operating scale without yet reaching breakeven; it does not, by itself, identify which individual models, factories or activities generated the loss.

Why an EV-segment loss is not the same as losing money on every EV

“Ford lost $4.806 billion on EVs” is shorthand for a segment-level EBIT result. It is not proof that every vehicle was sold below its variable production cost, nor does it tell you the marginal profit or loss on a particular Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning or other model.

A segment’s EBIT can include costs and effects that are spread across the business rather than attached to one vehicle. Ford’s reported figure may reflect, among other segment expenses, product-development work, engineering, fixed manufacturing costs, factory-utilization levels, pricing actions, warranty or launch-related effects and other operating items. The exact mix depends on Ford’s accounting presentation for the period.

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Fixed costs are especially important in a young vehicle operation. A plant, battery program or engineering team can cost roughly the same whether a factory produces 20,000 vehicles or 100,000. When output is low, each unit absorbs a larger share of those costs. As volume rises, the cost per unit can fall even if the company has not yet achieved a positive segment margin.

For that reason, dividing the annual loss by wholesale units can be a useful scale indicator, but it is not a “loss per EV.” Using Ford’s reported figures, the simple arithmetic is approximately:

  • 2024: $5.076 billion divided by 105,000 wholesale units, or about $48,300 per unit.
  • 2025: $4.806 billion divided by 178,000 wholesale units, or about $27,000 per unit.

Those ratios combine fixed and variable expenses, development spending and other segment items. They also use wholesale volume rather than retail deliveries and therefore should not be interpreted as the amount Ford lost on each customer transaction. The decline in the ratio is consistent with improved absorption of costs or a different mix of revenue and expenses, but the filings cited here do not prove a specific cause.

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What Ford’s revenue and volume numbers reveal

Model e revenue was $3.852 billion in 2024 and $6.670 billion in 2025. Wholesale volume rose from 105,000 to 178,000 units. That is a substantial increase in the size of the reported operation.

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A rough segment-level loss-to-revenue calculation puts the 2024 EBIT loss at about 132% of revenue and the 2025 loss at about 72%. These are derived ratios, not Ford’s stated margins, and they should be read cautiously. A percentage above 100% can occur when a segment’s operating expenses exceed its sales, particularly when development and other fixed costs are large relative to current revenue.

The numbers support two observations at once:

  • Ford’s EV operation was still far from profitable in both years.
  • Higher revenue and volume coincided with a smaller absolute EBIT loss in 2025.

Neither observation answers whether Ford is close to breakeven. To judge that, readers would need a consistent series of segment revenue, volume, EBIT margin, capital spending, cash flow and one-time charges, along with management’s explanation of what is recurring.

Is Ford’s profitable parent company offsetting EV losses?

Ford reported $5.879 billion of consolidated net income attributable to Ford in 2024, while Model e reported a $5.076 billion segment EBIT loss. Those figures cannot simply be netted to conclude that Ford “really” made $803 million from everything else.

They measure different things. Model e EBIT is an operating result for one reported segment. Consolidated net income is the company-wide bottom line after the effects included in Ford’s consolidated accounting, including items outside that segment and items below operating income such as interest and taxes. Different scopes and definitions make a direct subtraction misleading.

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The appropriate conclusion is that Ford’s other activities and consolidated accounting produced positive company-wide net income even while Model e recorded a large operating loss. That is common for a diversified automaker: established businesses can generate earnings while a newer technology program consumes cash and reports an operating deficit.

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What does General Motors report about EV losses?

General Motors’ 2024 filing and cited results release do not provide a standalone EV-segment loss comparable to Ford Model e’s $4.806 billion or $5.076 billion figures. GM instead describes the requirements and risks involved in reaching profitable EV production.

That distinction prevents several common mistakes. GM-wide earnings are not an EV result. Losses from a China joint venture are not automatically losses from GM’s electric-vehicle program. Results associated with Cruise are not an EV-segment measure either. Without a defined segment, period and accounting metric, assigning any of those figures to EVs would create a number the filing does not report.

GM’s disclosure is still useful because it identifies the economic hurdles management says must be addressed:

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  • A competitive portfolio that customers will choose at prices supporting acceptable margins.
  • Manufacturing scale sufficient to spread plant, tooling and engineering costs.
  • Lower battery-cell and battery-pack costs.
  • Reliable sourcing of battery materials.
  • Consumer adoption at a level that supports efficient production.

GM also points to demand variables such as vehicle purchase price, driving range, charging infrastructure, energy prices and government incentives. These are company-described conditions and risks, not a quantified explanation of a particular annual loss.

Why can electric vehicles lose automakers money?

Battery economics

Batteries are among the most expensive components in an EV. Cell chemistry, pack design, raw-material prices, manufacturing yield and warranty requirements all influence cost. A company can reduce cost through engineering and purchasing improvements, but those savings may take time to appear while factories and supplier contracts are being established.

Scale and factory utilization

New EV plants and dedicated production lines carry large fixed costs. If demand is below the level assumed in the investment plan, low utilization raises the cost allocated to each vehicle. Scaling production can improve economics, but only if vehicles are built and sold without excessive discounting or inventory accumulation.

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Development and launch spending

Automakers spend years designing platforms, software, batteries, safety systems and factories before sales reach mature levels. Segment EBIT can include those operating expenses while revenue is still limited. A high loss can therefore reflect investment in future capacity as well as current vehicle margins.

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Pricing and competition

EV prices respond to competition, incentives, financing conditions and changes in consumer demand. Price cuts can stimulate volume while reducing revenue per vehicle. Conversely, maintaining price can protect margin but leave factories underutilized if buyers delay purchases.

Consumer adoption and charging

Buyers weigh upfront cost, range, charging convenience, electricity prices and available incentives. A patchy charging network or uncertain resale value can slow adoption even when an automaker has adequate production capacity. Slower adoption then delays the volume needed to spread fixed costs.

These factors explain why an EV operation can lose money during a period of rising sales. They do not establish that any one factor caused Ford’s specific annual loss unless the company quantifies that effect.

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Are automakers selling more EVs even while losing money?

Yes, sales growth and profitability can move in different directions. The International Council on Clean Transportation reported that legacy automakers other than Volkswagen and Stellantis collectively increased U.S. passenger-EV sales by 20% in 2024. That statistic describes sales growth in the United States through 2024, not earnings and not global performance.

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More vehicles sold can improve economics through scale, but it can also coincide with larger investments, launch costs, lower prices or unfavorable model mix. The ICCT figure therefore cannot be used to infer that the participating automakers were profitable on those EVs.

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How to compare EV losses between automakers without being misled

A credible comparison requires the same definitions on both sides. Before placing two automakers in a ranking, check each of these axes:

Comparison axis Question to ask
Segment definition Does the figure cover only battery EVs, or also hybrids, software, charging and other activities?
Accounting measure Is it GAAP operating income, adjusted EBIT, net income, free cash flow or another metric?
Period Are both figures for the same fiscal year or quarter?
Revenue and units Are sales and volumes reported on the same wholesale, retail or delivery basis?
One-time items How are development costs, restructuring, impairments, launch costs and credits treated?
Joint ventures Are unconsolidated ventures included, excluded or reflected through equity income or losses?
Geography Is the result global, regional or limited to a market such as the United States?

If those definitions do not align, compare each company’s trend within its own reporting framework instead of producing a league table that appears precise but is not economically comparable.

What numbers should readers watch next?

Future filings can show whether an EV business is moving toward sustainable profitability more clearly than a single headline loss. Track the following series together:

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  • Segment EBIT and EBIT margin: a falling loss is encouraging, but margin shows whether revenue is covering operating costs.
  • Revenue and wholesale or retail volume: volume growth is more informative when paired with pricing and mix.
  • Capital spending: heavy investment can depress cash generation even as EBIT improves.
  • Impairment and restructuring charges: separate recurring operating performance from discrete write-downs where the filing allows.
  • Cash-flow measures: use a consistently defined operating or free-cash-flow measure and note whether it includes working-capital swings or one-time payments.
  • Battery and material-cost commentary: management updates can indicate whether the largest cost pressures are easing.
  • Capacity utilization and production plans: these help explain whether added volume is spreading fixed costs.

The key is consistency. A single quarter’s sales surge, a consolidated net-income figure or a market-share statistic cannot substitute for a defined EV-segment income statement.

Will automakers ever make money on electric vehicles?

The available disclosures do not establish a date when Ford, GM or the broader industry will reach durable EV profitability. They do identify a plausible path: reduce battery and material costs, build at efficient scale, improve utilization, offer vehicles customers value and maintain pricing that covers both manufacturing and years of development spending.

Ford’s reported trend provides one concrete data point. Model e’s loss fell from $5.076 billion in 2024 to $4.806 billion in 2025 while revenue and wholesale volume increased. That is progress on the reported EBIT measure, but it is not breakeven. GM’s filing describes the conditions required for profitability without supplying a comparable loss figure. Until automakers disclose more consistently defined segment results, claims that EV losses are universally worsening—or that every EV sale loses money—go beyond the evidence.

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auto industryautomotive financeelectric vehiclesEV profitabilityFord Model eGeneral Motors

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