DETROIT — The century-old rivalry between General Motors and Ford is entering unfamiliar territory.
The two Detroit giants are no longer competing only for buyers in the showroom. They are increasingly chasing opportunities in military vehicles and energy-storage systems, turning factories, batteries and manufacturing know-how built for the electric-vehicle era into potential new sources of revenue.
The shift comes as both automakers confront a tougher U.S. vehicle market and rethink massive investments made during the EV boom. Rather than simply leave underused battery capacity sitting idle, GM and Ford are looking at markets ranging from military vehicles to grid-scale energy storage.
Ford follows GM into the defense business
GM currently has the head start.
General Motors revived its defense business, GM Defense, in 2017 after a 14-year hiatus. The unit has since developed military vehicles and secured work with the U.S. military, including an Army contract for Infantry Squad Vehicles based on the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 architecture. GM has said the program could ultimately exceed $1 billion, depending on congressional appropriations.
GM has also been expanding its defense relationships. In June, GM Defense and Lockheed Martin announced a collaboration focused on strengthening U.S. manufacturing capacity, supply chains and production readiness for defense programs.
GM expects its defense business to generate nearly $700 million in revenue in 2026, according to CNBC’s reporting, while targeting positive earnings before interest and taxes for the unit this year.
Ford, meanwhile, is moving more aggressively into the sector.
The company recently teamed up with General Dynamics Land Systems and engineering firm Ricardo to compete for the United Kingdom’s Light Mobility Vehicle program.
The proposed military vehicle is based on Ford’s Ranger platform and is intended to help replace aging Land Rover and Pinzgauer fleets. The British program is worth billions of pounds, although Ford and its partners have not been awarded the contract.
The companies are pitching the Ranger’s existing commercial production scale as an advantage, potentially allowing military vehicles to be produced faster and at lower development costs than an entirely bespoke platform.
But the bigger race may be energy
Defense isn’t the only new battlefield.
GM and Ford are also attempting to turn their EV-era battery investments into energy-storage businesses.
That could become particularly important as electricity demand rises from data centers, industrial activity and the broader electrification of the U.S. economy.
Energy-storage systems can use battery technology similar to that developed for electric vehicles, allowing automakers to potentially repurpose manufacturing capacity that was originally designed around expectations of much stronger EV growth.
Ford has already made a major commitment.
The company announced a five-year framework agreement with EDF Power Solutions North America that could provide for as much as 20 gigawatt-hours of battery energy-storage systems, or up to 4 GWh annually. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2028.
Ford has also announced plans to invest about $2 billion in its energy business, including converting a Kentucky battery facility for energy-storage production.
Ford CEO Jim Farley told investors that the company was already well into securing orders for its planned energy-storage capacity.
GM sees opportunity in batteries, too
GM is taking a somewhat different path.
The automaker’s battery operations were originally developed largely around EV demand, but GM executives increasingly see energy storage as another potential market.
GM has worked with Redwood Materials on battery reuse and has explored next-generation battery technologies, including sodium-ion cells, for grid-scale applications.
The company also has battery production through its Ultium Cells joint venture with LG Energy Solution.
The strategic logic is straightforward: if EV demand does not absorb all of the battery capacity automakers built, another rapidly growing energy market could.
Why data centers matter
The timing is particularly important because America’s electricity needs are changing rapidly.
Large data centers and AI infrastructure require enormous amounts of power, increasing demand for reliable electricity and storage.
That creates an opening for companies with battery technology, manufacturing expertise and large industrial footprints.
Morningstar analyst David Whiston told CNBC that the automakers are essentially looking for new business verticals, arguing that energy storage could allow them to capitalize on excess EV-related manufacturing capacity rather than simply abandon or sell those assets.
But analysts caution that neither defense nor energy storage is likely to replace the core automotive business anytime soon.
Instead, the businesses could become additional revenue streams that help GM and Ford diversify.
A new kind of GM-Ford rivalry
The shift also represents a remarkable return to an old American industrial tradition.
During World War II, both automakers played major roles in the U.S. manufacturing effort, producing military equipment and supplies at enormous scale.
Now, decades later, the two companies are again positioning their manufacturing capabilities for national-security needs — although today’s opportunities are substantially different from the wartime production lines of the 1940s.
For GM, defense is already an established business.
For Ford, it is a newer opportunity that is expanding beyond the United States and into NATO markets.
Ford’s British military bid could also provide a path toward broader NATO opportunities because the company sees potential benefits in using common vehicle components across allied military fleets.
The real test is still ahead
The strategy carries risks.
Military contracts can take years to develop and depend heavily on government budgets and procurement decisions. Energy storage is also becoming increasingly competitive, with battery manufacturers, energy companies and technology firms fighting for market share.
And neither market can yet match the scale of GM’s or Ford’s core vehicle operations.
Still, Wall Street is watching closely because these businesses could give the automakers something they badly need: new ways to monetize factories, batteries and engineering capabilities that were built during the EV expansion.
The rivalry between GM and Ford is therefore entering a new era.
They are still building vehicles — but increasingly, they’re building for the battlefield and the power grid, too.
And if America’s defense spending and electricity demand continue rising, the question may no longer be which company sells more cars.
It may be which Detroit giant can turn its industrial empire into the next big American growth engine.
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