Ford And GM Kill $7,500 EV Tax Credit Plans

When the federal EV tax credit expired on Sept. 30, Ford and GM each came up with a brilliant way to qualify some unsold cars for the program.

The automakers planned to use their financing arms to buy up a bunch of inventory, which they could then continue to offer as leases with discount prices. It fit the letter of the program and got the green light from the IRS, but this week they both backtracked from the plan.

Company insiders first told Reuters about the reversal, which came as Republican Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio, a former car dealer, asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent “to close an IRS loophole that is allowing automobile companies to continue taking advantage of EV tax credits.”

Neither automaker officially gave a specific reason for the change, but said they would continue offering some incentives for EV purchases and leases.

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“Ford will not claim the EV tax credit but will maintain the competitive lease payments we have in the market today,” a spokesperson told Reuters. GM said it would offer the same discounted lease that it planned to through October.

Other automakers have added incentives and cut prices since the tax credit deadline passed, including Hyundai, which has lowered the MSRP on its Georgia-built Ioniq 5 by as much as $9,800.

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