Big Three Automakers Hit by Soaring Input Costs

0:00It's May 3rd, I'm Cory with the story, and this is US News Today National News powered by AI. Big 3 automakers like General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis just dropped their first quarter earnings, and they're all sounding the alarm on. Skyrocketing input costs. Blame it on logistics narrows, energy spikes, aluminum shortages, and even DRAM memory chips. GM bumped its commodity inflation forecast for 2026 to between $1,500,500,000 and $2,000,000 up from there. Earlier, $1,000,000,000 to $1.5 billion estimate. GM CEO Mary Barra, straight up told investors the war in Iran is jacking up their bills with no clear end in sight. Ford CFO pended on global aluminum and steel crunches, worsened by the Middle East mess, projecting over $2,000,000 in headwinds, this. Year about $1,000,000 more than before. Not even counting last year's supplier fires. The real pain point is aluminum.

1:01Iranian strikes on March 28th hit major smelters in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, knocking out around 3 million metric tons of yearly capacity. That sent London Medal Exchange prices to a 4-year high near $3,492 a ton, with U.S. buyers facing record. Premiums on top of that 50% section 232 tariff since June 2025. Tensions kicked off February 28th with U.S. and Israeli air strikes on Iran. A two-week U.S. Iran ceasefire from April 7th got extended, but the U.S. Navy still blockading Iranian ports since April 13th. These commodity hits roughly matched the $6 billion the Big Three expect from U.S. tariffs per reports. These makers are holding on with fixed supplier deals and hedges for now. But analysts warn those cushions will fade if the conflict drags. That can mean higher sticker prices at dealership soon, hitting our wallets where it hurts.