General Motors: History, Innovation, Legacy
Learn about General Motors’ rich history and outstanding innovations, from its founding in 1908 to its leadership in electrical and autonomous vehicle technology.
- As Tesla loses steam, GM is gaining market share for electric vehicles.
- Automotive analysts say the aging vehicle portfolio and the political environment have harmed Tesla’s sales this quarter.
Tesla Inc., the number one electric vehicle company in the US, has appointed clients as public opinion deteriorated with polarized billionaire CEO Elon Musk. According to automotive experts, the market gap has steadily been met and is a product produced by General Motors.
Detroit’s automaker accelerated sales and market share of electric vehicles in the first half of the year thanks to expanded electrical products of three of the four brands. Meanwhile, consumer sentiment towards Texas-based rival Tesla gained the crater this spring due to criticism of Musk’s practical involvement in Washington politics.
“While GM is quietly building trust, Elon is burning it,” said Paul Waatti, director of industry analytics at Autopacific. “Consumers are responding to consistency rather than volatility, and GM’s stable hands are beginning to pay dividends.”
The tide has changed somewhat, but the sales bays among American car manufacturers are enormous. GM EV sales are Tesla’s distant second. Still, GM reported triple-digit growth in the EV, but Tesla faced double-digit losses during that period.
Tesla said it delivered 384,122 vehicles in the second quarter from June to June, down 13% from 443,956 deliveries a year ago. As Tesla has not cut off delivery by region, sales estimates provided by Automotive News Data Centers reduced Tesla’s second quarter US sales by approximately 125,000, or 16.7%. For the first six months of 2025, Tesla sold 255,000 in the US, A 13% decrease from the first half of 2024.
Meanwhile, GM sold 78,167 electric vehicles in the US in the first half, an increase of 111% from mid-2024, of which 46,280 were sold in the second quarter.
GM’s estimated EV market share reached 13%, but could grow as the year progresses and still shrink, according to Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at Autoforecast Solutions.
Annual sales of Tesla’s lineup for the first time fell in 2024. Tesla said it will slump into a production pause and move to a refreshed version of its bestselling model Y SUV, industry experts will urge purchases to be postponed until a new version is rolled out.
Instead, people bought fewer Tesla vehicles.
“There’s not one thing that can cause Tesla sales to fall and GM to rise. That’s a combination of factors,” Fioni said. “Part of that is being addressed to Elon Musk, and part of that will eliminate the EV tax credit. The EV market is developing very quickly, but we are still at the beginning of the bell curve.”
Long head start
Tesla, Inc. manufactures electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels. was founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. PayPal co-founder Elon Musk invested $30 million in the venture before taking over CEO shortly after Roadster, the first vehicle launch in 2008, and chaired the company before taking over CEO.
Meanwhile, GM was founded 100 years before Roadsters appeared on the roads, and even benefited from creating the first modern electric vehicle with the EV1 in 1996, but had not returned to wide-ranging electric vehicle production until the 2010s.
Tesla’s longevity as a popular name for electric vehicles may have an advantage over larger legacy automakers like GM, but the name has lost its sheen amidst a stagnant vehicle lineup and physical stagnation, COX’s industry insight director told part of the USA Today Network. (Tesla does not use franchise dealers and does not offer promotional discounts for its products.) Tesla has not launched an entirely new vehicle since Cybertruck in 2023.
“Tesla has gotten off to this head start, but we see that these other manufacturers will be launching products that they sell to resonate with dealers,” she said.
GM’s electric vehicle sales could be growing exponentially, but it’s not quite as good as the company’s business under its gas-powered model. GM used the multi-powertrain portfolio to its advantage.
The popularity of the gas-powered versions of the Chevrolet Equinox and blazer claims it is likely to help sell electrical appliances as consumers relied on familiar choices. The Chevrolet Equinox EV, which launched last year for $34,995, has sold 17,420 sales so far this year. GM sold 12,736 Blazer EVs in 2025, starting from 7,234, which were sold until June 2025.
“We’re about giving our customers more options. Over the past few years we’ve made the right investment to bring the widest ICE and EV portfolios in the industry to the market,” said Tara Kuhnen, GM spokesman. “We are proud to continue to drive innovation here in the United States.”
Joe Lafeir, president of S&P Global Mobility’s Automotive Insights, said in a February statement that announced GM’s tenth consecutive year that it was GM, in a February statement that announced that automakers with healthy pipelines of products that appeal to a wide range of buyers will boast a healthy pipeline of product products that drive sales.
Fiorani added that the more options consumers generally have, the more likely they are to find what brands are looking for when they move to electric powertrains.
“GM has a Cadillac and Chevrolet and GMC are spread across many segments,” Fioni said. “They are still behind Tesla, but they offer customers the option that Tesla doesn’t.”
Reputation damage
The role of Musk in President Donald Trump’s administration, which leads the efficiency of government, has been gaining negative corporate coverage and customer backlash.
Doge, the creator of masks, is responsible for job cuts in thousands of public sector jobs, which has been criticized for inspiring Teslas’ massive destructionism in dealers and public parking lots. Videos of people keying Teslas have gone viral on social media platforms Instagram and X.
The Detroit Free Press Reporter borrowed Tesla in March to measure the response of Metro Detroit residents and connected with Tesla owners.
The true impact of Tesla’s changing public image could still be realized, Valdez Starti added. She compared the change with consumer sentiment. Consumer sentiment took time for spending habits to catch up with reports of economic uncertainty.
“Tesla is definitely down when it comes to data on brand favors,” she said.
Jackie Charniga covers General Motors for the Free Press. I’ll reach her jcharniga@freepress.com.
