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Paul Jacobson

Executive VP & CFO, General Motors

Search every verified Paul Jacobson interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Paul Jacobson, Executive Vice President and CFO of General Motors, discussed the company's second-quarter 2026 results and raised its full-year guidance across key metrics, including EBIT adjusted of $14–16 billion, EPS diluted adjusted of $12–14, and adjusted automotive free cash flow of $9.5–11.5 billion. He attributed the performance to consistent execution, inventory discipline, warranty improvements, and growth in digital revenues, noting that first-half EPS was more than 25% above the prior record and exceeded six of the last ten full years' results. Jacobson also addressed macro challenges, stating that while tariffs and inflation created headwinds, the company had offset them through productivity gains and pricing, returning to an 8–10% margin range in North America despite $3 billion in tariff-related pressures. In media appearances, Jacobson expressed confidence in the company's growth areas beyond traditional vehicle sales, including digital subscriptions, insurance, defense applications, and vehicle-to-grid technology. He acknowledged that EVs had become politicized and that GM had not yet made them profitable, but he maintained conviction in their long-term future. Jacobson also highlighted GM's capital return strategy, noting the company had retired over 35% of its fully diluted shares since 2023 and continued to favor share buybacks given what he described as a low valuation and high free cash flow yield. He emphasized that GM was building from a position of strength, with expectations that 2026 would be stronger than 2025 and that momentum would carry into 2027 and beyond.

Recent appearances

Notable quotes

“We haven't made EVs profitably. I think everybody is struggling in America even Tesla to produce profitable electric vehicles and to adjust to where we are in the current environment.”

“EVs got politicized. And it shouldn't be a political issue. It should be one that hey, do you like the features? Do you like the capabilities?”

“The tariff dynamic remains somewhat fluid as we saw last night, the new tariffs that were announced don't affect autos under 232. We expect a minimal impact from that. But, you know, we're optimistic that the administration can come to a resolution and get final resolution on USMCA or bilateral deals with Mexico and Canada. I think that's really important, but we've managed to shrug off some of that uncertainty and j”

“The amazing thing is when you look at the cumulative effect of all of this, our first half earnings per share is 25% higher than the first half at any time in our history. And actually more than six out of the last ten full years we've already recorded in the first six months. So this momentum is palpable. And it's something that we think is going to continue.”

“Our capital allocation policy starts with investing in the business. We'll put 10 to 2 billion in much of that. This year is actually on shoring work that was previously done internationally. And we're bringing that in as a result of our tariff response.”

“We haven't moved our free cash flow guidance like we did our event because we're not sure when that refund is going to come. We haven't applied for anything yet, but you know, we're going to work through that with the government in partnership.”

Other executives at General Motors

The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →