General Motors and Ford are mentioning electric vehicles less frequently during earnings calls than they did before the pandemic, according to an analysis by TechCrunch and financial research firm Hudson Labs. Both automakers continue to sell EVs and develop new models, but their investor discussions now give more attention to areas such as software, autonomous vehicles, trade policy and profitable petrol-powered trucks.
The analysis examined seven years of quarterly earnings-call transcripts obtained from S&P Market Intelligence. Hudson Labs used its Co-Analyst research tool to assign topic tags to each sentence before measuring how often EVs appeared and how much of each call they occupied.
Stellantis was excluded because it entered the market later than GM and Ford and held comprehensive earnings calls only twice a year until early 2026.
GM’s EV Mentions Fall From Earlier Highs
GM began increasing its focus on EVs during earnings calls in 2019 and 2020 as it prepared new US-built models and discussed making Cadillac an electric-only brand. EVs received more than 100 mentions during each of GM’s final two calls in 2020, accounting for about one-third of those discussions.
The share generally remained near one-quarter of each call through the following four years, apart from periods dominated by the semiconductor shortage and tariff policy. EV mentions then fell from 82 during GM’s second-quarter 2025 call to 21 in its second-quarter 2026 call.
GM remains the second-largest EV seller in the United States, but it has adjusted manufacturing capacity following changes in regulation and consumer demand. Its second-quarter 2026 shareholder letter said the company continued to reduce EV losses while improving operating efficiency.
GM spokesperson Jim Cain said the quality of its EV discussion mattered more than the number of references. He added that earnings calls must also cover software, autonomous technology, trade policy, capital allocation and regional performance.
Ford Shifts Attention to Affordable EV Platform
Ford began discussing EVs more frequently after introducing the Mustang Mach-E in 2019 and preparing its first deliveries in 2020. Mentions remained high following the 2021 launch of the F-150 Lightning, with EVs occupying about one-third of several quarterly calls.
Ford started reducing its EV commitments before the 2024 US election, cancelling or delaying some projects while directing resources toward a lower-cost development programme. Recent calls have also focused more heavily on the company’s higher-margin F-Series trucks and trade policies.
Ford chief executive Jim Farley said during the company’s second-quarter 2026 earnings presentation that Ford still intends to become a major competitor in affordable and versatile EVs.
The company plans to begin producing a midsize electric pickup based on its Universal EV Platform in 2027. Ford spokesperson David Tovar said the model is designed to balance cost, pricing and technology, while Ford’s official announcement describes it as the first vehicle from a wider family of affordable electric models.
The full earnings-call analysis is available from TechCrunch.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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