AI-assembled from public SEC filings
Auto OEMs peer review
Descriptive comparison assembled from public SEC filings and verified companyfacts.
This feature-specific review is assembled from a frozen evidence pack of public SEC filing quotes and verified SEC companyfacts numbers. It is descriptive only and makes no judgment about which company is better. It is not a rating, recommendation, endorsement, forecast, or investment advice. Figures are as of their cited filing dates.
Methodology
The cluster is selected from cached SEC SIC 3711 companies and kept to the requested large OEM peer tier: GM, F, and TSLA. TSLA's pure-EV/high-growth model differs from legacy GM and F; that divergence is descriptive rather than a claim of identical business models. For GM and F, liabilities/equity is quarantined because total-company leverage includes captive-finance arms (GM Financial and Ford Credit) and is not comparable to industrial-only auto leverage. STLA is missing from the processed cache and is not fabricated.
Verified Quantitative Matrix
Numbers are templated from frozen SEC companyfacts-derived facts already verified by grepcent. Fiscal periods and filing dates are shown in each cell; code-computed comparisons below only use calendar-aligned periods.
| Metric | GM | F | TSLA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 185,019,000,000 source · NUM_GM_REVENUE_FY2025 | 187,267,000,000 source · NUM_F_REVENUE_FY2025 | 94,827,000,000 source · NUM_TSLA_REVENUE_FY2025 |
| Gross margin | Not available. | 6.84% source · NUM_F_GROSS_MARGIN_FY2025 | 18.03% source · NUM_TSLA_GROSS_MARGIN_FY2025 |
| Operating margin | 1.57% source · NUM_GM_OPERATING_MARGIN_FY2025 | -4.90% source · NUM_F_OPERATING_MARGIN_FY2025 | 4.59% source · NUM_TSLA_OPERATING_MARGIN_FY2025 |
| Net margin | 1.46% source · NUM_GM_NET_MARGIN_FY2025 | -4.36% source · NUM_F_NET_MARGIN_FY2025 | 4.00% source · NUM_TSLA_NET_MARGIN_FY2025 |
| R&D expense | Not available. | 9,400,000,000 source · NUM_F_RESEARCH_AND_DEVELOPMENT_FY2025 | 6,411,000,000 source · NUM_TSLA_RESEARCH_AND_DEVELOPMENT_FY2025 |
| R&D / revenue | Not available. | 5.02% source · NUM_F_R_AND_D_INTENSITY_FY2025 | 6.76% source · NUM_TSLA_R_AND_D_INTENSITY_FY2025 |
| Capital expenditures | 9,303,000,000 source · NUM_GM_CAPEX_FY2025 | 8,815,000,000 source · NUM_F_CAPEX_FY2025 | 8,527,000,000 source · NUM_TSLA_CAPEX_FY2025 |
| Capex / revenue | 5.03% source · NUM_GM_CAPEX_INTENSITY_FY2025 | 4.71% source · NUM_F_CAPEX_INTENSITY_FY2025 | 8.99% source · NUM_TSLA_CAPEX_INTENSITY_FY2025 |
| Free cash flow | 17,564,000,000 source · NUM_GM_FREE_CASH_FLOW_FY2025 | 12,467,000,000 source · NUM_F_FREE_CASH_FLOW_FY2025 | 6,220,000,000 source · NUM_TSLA_FREE_CASH_FLOW_FY2025 |
| Liabilities / equity leverage | Quarantined: Quarantined for comparability: GM and F total-company liabilities include captive-finance arms (GM Financial and Ford Credit), so liabilities/equity is not comparable to TSLA's industrial balance sheet without a clean automotive-only split. | ||
| Cash and equivalents | 20,945,000,000 source · NUM_GM_CASH_FY2025 | 23,356,000,000 source · NUM_F_CASH_FY2025 | 16,513,000,000 source · NUM_TSLA_CASH_FY2025 |
Code-computed comparisons
- grepcent-computed gross margin range: range endpoints are F (6.84%) and TSLA (18.03%).
- grepcent-computed capex intensity range: range endpoints are F (4.71%) and TSLA (8.99%).
Narrative Matrix
| Dimension | GM | F | TSLA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business model | Quarantined: no direct dimension-relevant quote survived the gate. | In its latest annual MD&A, F describes this business model item. [FACT:Q_F_BUSINESS_MODEL_1] For example, in Ford Blue, our larger, more profitable vehicles had an average contribution margin that was 153% of our total average contribution margin across all vehicles, whereas our smaller vehicles had significantly lower contribution margins. company page · source filing · fact Q_F_BUSINESS_MODEL_1 · filed 2026-02-11 | Quarantined: no direct dimension-relevant quote survived the gate. |
| Geographic and customer exposure | Quarantined: no direct dimension-relevant quote survived the gate. | Quarantined: no direct dimension-relevant quote survived the gate. | Quarantined: no direct dimension-relevant quote survived the gate. |
| Capital allocation | Quarantined: no direct dimension-relevant quote survived the gate. | Quarantined: no direct dimension-relevant quote survived the gate. | Quarantined: no direct dimension-relevant quote survived the gate. |
| Stated strategy in filings | Quarantined: no direct dimension-relevant quote survived the gate. | Quarantined: no direct dimension-relevant quote survived the gate. | In its latest annual MD&A, TSLA describes this stated strategy in filings item. [FACT:Q_TSLA_STATED_STRATEGY_1] We continue to ramp production and build and optimize our manufacturing capacity, expand our operations while focusing on further cost reductions and operational efficiencies to enable increased deliveries and deployments of our products, and invest in research and development to accelerate our AI, software and fleet-based profits for further revenue growth. company page · source filing · fact Q_TSLA_STATED_STRATEGY_1 · filed 2026-01-29 |
| Idiosyncratic risks in filings | In its latest annual MD&A, GM describes this idiosyncratic risks in filings item. [FACT:Q_GM_IDIOSYNCRATIC_RISKS_3] Through its leasing program GM Financial is exposed to residual values, which are heavily dependent on used vehicle prices. company page · source filing · fact Q_GM_IDIOSYNCRATIC_RISKS_3 · filed 2026-01-27 | In its latest annual MD&A, F describes this idiosyncratic risks in filings item. [FACT:Q_F_IDIOSYNCRATIC_RISKS_1] Most of the vehicles sold by us to our dealers and distributors are financed at wholesale by Ford Credit. company page · source filing · fact Q_F_IDIOSYNCRATIC_RISKS_1 · filed 2026-02-11 | Quarantined: no direct dimension-relevant quote survived the gate. |
| Recent narrative change | Quarantined: no direct dimension-relevant quote survived the gate. | Quarantined: no direct dimension-relevant quote survived the gate. | Quarantined: no direct dimension-relevant quote survived the gate. |
Gate summary
Quarantined quantitative rows
- liabilities_to_equity: Quarantined for comparability: GM and F total-company liabilities include captive-finance arms (GM Financial and Ford Credit), so liabilities/equity is not comparable to TSLA's industrial balance sheet without a clean automotive-only split.
Quarantined dimensions
- geographic_customer_exposure: No verified cells survived the gate.
- capital_allocation: No verified cells survived the gate.
- recent_narrative_change: No verified cells survived the gate.
Quarantined cells
- GM / business_model: No direct dimension-relevant quote survived the evidence gate.
- TSLA / business_model: No direct dimension-relevant quote survived the evidence gate.
- GM / geographic_customer_exposure: No direct dimension-relevant quote survived the evidence gate.
- F / geographic_customer_exposure: No direct dimension-relevant quote survived the evidence gate.
- TSLA / geographic_customer_exposure: No direct dimension-relevant quote survived the evidence gate.
- GM / capital_allocation: No direct dimension-relevant quote survived the evidence gate.
- F / capital_allocation: No direct dimension-relevant quote survived the evidence gate.
- TSLA / capital_allocation: No direct dimension-relevant quote survived the evidence gate.
- GM / stated_strategy: No direct dimension-relevant quote survived the evidence gate.
- F / stated_strategy: No direct dimension-relevant quote survived the evidence gate.
- TSLA / idiosyncratic_risks: No direct dimension-relevant quote survived the evidence gate.
- GM / recent_narrative_change: No direct dimension-relevant quote survived the evidence gate.
- F / recent_narrative_change: No direct dimension-relevant quote survived the evidence gate.
- TSLA / recent_narrative_change: No direct dimension-relevant quote survived the evidence gate.