General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) and Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) both benefited from a rush of consumers purchasing vehicles in March to avoid anticipated price hikes due to tariffs set to be imposed on the auto industry by the Trump administration starting on April 3.
This boosted GM's overall Q1 sales by 17%, marking its best first quarter since 2018, and contributed to a 19% increase in Ford's retail sales in March.
GM delivered 693,353 vehicles during Q1 with growth driven by strong sales across all brands.
EV sales nearly doubled to 31,887 units, positioning GM as the second-largest EV seller in the US after Tesla.
Overall, Ford reported a 1.3% year-over-year decline in auto sales, selling 501,291 units. The decrease was attributed to the discontinuation of the Ford Edge SUV and fleet sale timing.
Retail sales were up 5%, driven by the 19% surge in March.
Ford also reported record hybrid sales, with overall hybrid vehicle sales up 42% year-over-year, driven by models like the Maverick Hybrid and F-150 Hybrid.
Shares of Ford finished Tuesday’s trading session 0.9% lower at about $10 while GM gained 0.5% at about $47.