Automobile Sales, Including EVs and Hybrids, Surge in 2024
EV Sales, Including Hybrids, Surge for Auto Giants Not Named Tesla:
General Motors and Ford Motor on Friday reported robust U.S. auto sales and electric-vehicle sales for the final quarter of 2024. GM more than doubled EV sales for the full year, while Tesla suffered a sales decline. GM stock edged higher on Friday, while Ford stock popped and Tesla jumped.
Toyota Motor posted declining U.S. new vehicle sales, but marked an EV sales milestone, including hybrid vehicles. Hyundai, which trades over the counter, and Honda Motor saw robust hybrid and EV sales, spearheading their overall sales growth.
GM, Ford report best annual U.S. sales since 2019 as auto recovery continues:
Sales of new vehicles in the U.S. continued to rise last year, rebounding from historical lows caused by the coronavirus pandemic and supply chain shortages during the past four years.
American legacy automakers General Motors and Ford Motor on Friday both reported their best annual U.S. new vehicle sales since 2019, led by growth of electrified vehicles such as all-electric and hybrid models.
Those results are in line with industrywide expectations for automakers. Market research firms expected U.S. automakers to report total sales of nearly 16 million vehicles in 2024, which would mark the industry's best year since selling roughly 17 million units in 2019.
[...] GM said sales were driven by increases in all four of its U.S. brands as well as a roughly 50% rise in sales of electric vehicles to more than 114,400 units.
Despite the notable jump in EV sales, the vehicles only made up 4.2% of the automaker's overall sales. GM estimated it achieved a 12% EV market share in the U.S. during the fourth quarter.
It was a similar trend at Ford, which reported a notable increase in sales of its "electrified" vehicles, including EVs and hybrids.
Mazda is Selling More Cars Than Ever—All Without an EV in Sight
However, EVs are not the focus of some auto manufacturers.
Mazda is defying industry trends with surging sales of its gas-powered SUVs. Can it keep the momentum going without a fully electric vehicle in its lineup?
While many automakers are racing toward electrification, Mazda is proving that there's still room for gas-powered success. The Japanese automaker is set to break its U.S. sales record from 1986, with over 420,000 vehicles expected to be sold in 2024—a 16% increase from the previous year.
Mazda's president of North American operations, Tom Donnelly, credited the popularity of its compact crossovers and mid-size SUVs for this growth, with a target of 450,000 vehicles for 2025. "We're growing our business in what has largely been a stable industry," Donnelly said, talking about the consistent sales volume that Mazda has seen from its compacts and mid-size SUVs.
[...] What's driving Mazda's success? Mazda's lineup relies heavily on a few key models. The CX-5, a compact crossover manufactured in Japan, remains its best seller, despite being one of the oldest vehicles in its lineup. A redesign is expected within the next two years. The CX-30 subcompact hatchback and the Alabama-made CX-50 have also contributed significantly to the brand's recent surge.
[...] With overall US auto sales projected by Kelley Blue Book to rise just 2.3% in 2024, Mazda's performance is a standout. However, challenges remain. While Mazda charts new territory for its U.S. sales, it still lags behind competitors like Subaru, Kia and even Nissan, which has struggled with a host of its own problems in 2024.
Previously: Mazda: Americans Want Cheap Gas Cars
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The company's CEO claims that affordable and reliable vehicles with combustion engines are a priority for US buyers:
Mazda is late to the electrification party. The MX-30 is far from being the roaring success the Japanese automaker had hoped it would be. It was axed from the United States at the end of the 2023 model year due to poor sales. The range-extending version with a rotary engine is only offered in certain markets, and the US is not on the list. In addition, the EZ-6 electric sedan isn't coming here either. However, the situation isn't all that bad.
Why? Because Americans primarily want gas cars. Speaking with Automotive News, Mazda CEO Masahiro Moro said ICE has a long future in America. Even at the end of the decade, traditional gas cars and mild-hybrid models will make up about two-thirds of annual sales. Plug-in hybrids and EVs will represent the remaining third. In other words, most vehicles will still have a gas engine five years from now.
Mazda's head honcho primarily referred to entry-level models, specifically the 3 and CX-30. Moro believes EV growth in the US has slowed down in the last 18 months or so, adding the trend will likely continue in the foreseeable future. That buys the company more time to develop a lithium-ion battery entirely in-house. The goal is to have it ready for 2030 in plug-in hybrids and purely electric cars. Expect a much higher energy density and "very short" charging times. Interestingly, the engineers already have a "very advanced research base for solid-state batteries."
In the meantime, work is underway on a two-rotor gas engine that will serve as a generator.
Related:
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday January 07, @07:52AM (9 children)
Whether the US will ever catch up [ieee.org] remains to be seen, but it's definitely not caught on fire here like in other countries.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday January 07, @09:18AM (8 children)
I suspect one reason for that is a culture that likes road tripping. EV is great for short trips with plenty of down time. Long trips or constant use, not so much.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by canopic jug on Tuesday January 07, @10:12AM (5 children)
Well, the main explanation for the road tripping is the complete lack of viable alternatives. Passenger rail, for example, was bought up and dismantled almost 100 years ago. The only other alternative remaining is air travel and that is usually more trouble than it is worth even when just dealing with the logistics and not counting getting felt up by pervs and generally demeaned as a human by the check-in and travel process itself [schneier.com]. The older generations may still remember when air passengers were treated like valued customers and the experience of travel was actually reasonably pleasant even if tiring.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 4, Informative) by fliptop on Tuesday January 07, @01:38PM (3 children)
I'm not sure you understand what a road trip really is. It isn't just about getting to and from your destination; it's about stopping and saying "hi" to friends who may live along the way, taking a 2-hour detour to look at a car you saw advertised online, going off the beaten path to explore places you've never been, or visiting national parks, monuments, or other bucket list items you may have that happen to be between you and your destination. If you're riding a train you can't ask the conductor to stop in Kansas City b/c there's a restaurant w/ great smoked ribs and you're really hungry for barbecue.
A road trip is an experience in itself and it compliments the experience of whatever your destination is.
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by VLM on Tuesday January 07, @02:22PM (2 children)
Ironically, if you stop every 50 miles at some tourist trap for a couple hours, it should be trivial to recharge fully at every stop providing "infinite range". Also while you're parked at a tourist trap for a couple hours, its impossible to burn miles on the car while its parked; if you spend perhaps 6 hours doing tourist stuff, which is just three hours morning and again in the afternoon, that's 360 miles you can't drive and don't need 360 miles of range.
I live in a recreational state and chargers are so dense on the ground it would be hard to not do this. I suppose there are states and areas with much fewer chargers.
The biggest problem I can think of is "events" where the point is to get there and get home, not to adventure along the way. My kids had a high school sports event (exactly one time) where we had to drive 200 miles one day and back home the next. Financially, we'd be WAY better off renting than buying an EV with 400+ miles range for one trip, or going out of our way to find a fast charger and 200+ miles of range. Much further than 200 miles and it would make sense to fly, assuming the destination has an airport LOL. Although rental would be cheaper than a family worth of individual airline tickets and some sports (even amateur level) have a lot of equipment.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by fliptop on Tuesday January 07, @03:28PM
Technically, I suppose, that is a "road trip" but really, it isn't.
When my youngest was in college, we took a road trip in May/June to visit my oldest in Montana. My old college roommate lives in Denver and we went there first and spent a couple of days visiting and hiking [peacecomputers.com] in places that don't exist anywhere except in the Rockies. When we went north to Montana, instead of heading up I-25 we drove further west [peacecomputers.com] into Colorado then took 40 up to Craig, CO and stopped several times to admire the absolute beauty [peacecomputers.com] of those parts of CO that are off the beaten path. The drive through Wyoming [peacecomputers.com] was eye-opening, and when I showed my brother some of the pics he developed an interest in moving there. A couple of weeks ago he closed on a log cabin near Casper and I can't wait to visit him. On our return trip we detoured to Mt. Rushmore [peacecomputers.com].
When we arrived home she called my old roommate in Denver and asked, "I really liked it there, do you mind if I come back out for the rest of the summer and crash at your pad?" What followed was one of her best summers off during college. She got to go hiking in Utah and spend even more time visiting her sister. I'm not sure she would have been inspired to do that had we not spent a couple of days in Denver visiting my buddy.
That was a real road trip. And the memories of spending those 2 weeks w/ her, talking about everything under the sun, will last forever.
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday January 09, @05:41PM
Ironically, if you stop every 50 miles at some tourist trap for a couple hours, it should be trivial to recharge fully at every stop providing "infinite range"
Yes, it should be, but it is a national disgrace that public chargers are so few, and so hard to find. I have yet to see one that's well marked. On the interstate, you see signs pointing to gas stations at every exit, not a single one pointing out chargers. Between here and St Louis there is one charger in Litchfield. No signs on I-55 except the one that says "gas". Someone here had to tell me it was there and was still damned hard to find. And broken.
I'm convinced that auto mechanics' most fun recreational activity is vandalizing EV chargers.
A man legally forbidden from possessing a firearm is in charge of America's nuclear arsenal. Have a nice day.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by mcgrew on Thursday January 09, @05:30PM
About flying, I used to love to travel by commercial aircraft, but that was before the Saudis fucked it up on 9-11-01. Walk up to the counter, give them cash (no ID needed), get on the airplane and light your cigarette (I gave them up a long time ago). Comfortable reclining seats, not Grandma's cooking but better than the jail food I hear they serve now. No arriving two hours before the damned thing takes off.
The day the TSA was instituted was the day I resolved to never again get on a jet. Nothing was enshitified as much this century as air travel.
A man legally forbidden from possessing a firearm is in charge of America's nuclear arsenal. Have a nice day.
(Score: 4, Touché) by VLM on Tuesday January 07, @02:13PM
Well, a culture that likes telling each other they like road tripping, although most don't.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday January 09, @05:21PM
That is one answer, but most US households have more than one vehicle.
The real reason is that Americans have no clue about the many advantages of the EV, which (except the utter lack of public charging infrastructure, a huge disgrace IMO) is to a piston car what a Model-T was to a horse and buggy. Don't expect the industry to tell you that, because piston drive trains have thousands of moving parts to wear, break, and replace. An EV has less than a half dozen. No maintenance needed on the drive train, not even oil changes. Almost no maintenance at all on the vehicle. Manufacturers and dealers lose the dealer to junkyard gravy train on replacement parts.
So don't expect them to inform you that you have never driven a car that handles or brakes as well unless you're a Formula One driver. They won't tell you how much more room an EV has than the same size piston vehicle. Or that you won't freeze filling its gas tank, you plug it in and go inside. There's no reason to stop at a gas station at all, except maybe for beer and cigarettes and junk food. Or that there's no wait for an engine to warm up for heat. Or that there's almost no sound, no vibration, no jerks from its shifting gears. Or the fuel cost equivalent of 145 mpg.
All they will talk about, both industry and government, is global warming, which nobody but Al Gore will buy an EV for. You can do nothing about global warming, only governments and industries can.
Unless you're an auto mechanic or oil wildcatter, don't badmouth EVs until you test drive one.
Oh, and don't believe the liars at the EPA. The mileage figures are bogus.
Oh, a second reason to avoid EVs: You're twenty five and an EV is an old man's car. Young people live for the noise and vibration of pounding pistons, the smell of fuel and its partial burning.
A man legally forbidden from possessing a firearm is in charge of America's nuclear arsenal. Have a nice day.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Snotnose on Tuesday January 07, @02:03PM (13 children)
I'm the perfect candidate for an EV, most of my trips are less than 10 miles round trip and I don't remember the last time I drove over 50 miles in a day. But I'm in an apartment and have no good way to charge an EV, so ICE it was.
I put a "Warning: Contains scenes that may be disturbing to some viewers" label on my bathroom mirror.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday January 07, @02:29PM (11 children)
This can change quickly, where I live almost all supermarkets and big box stores have fast chargers in the lot. So if you shop for food at least every couple days you could charge.
Two problems are I like the online shopping/delivery specifically to avoid going to the store, and there's at least two food stores (out of a dozen?) in my city that don't have chargers, a tiny "Mexican grocery" I'd never have any reason to visit, and an older regional supermarket that hasn't been remodeled this century (but probably will, eventually).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 07, @04:15PM (3 children)
Those can be hidden gems. Why am I not surprised you would avoid these stores.
(Score: 2) by Username on Tuesday January 07, @05:41PM (2 children)
I'm guessing he doesn't speak Spanish.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday January 08, @05:49AM (1 child)
... while also assuming that in a tiny "Mexican grocery" in US they don't speak English.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday January 09, @05:47PM
while also assuming that in a tiny "Mexican grocery" in US they don't speak English.
When I lived in Orlando, you needed to speak Spanish to shop at the convinience store down the street. I was the one who had to go get cigarettes because the wife didn't speak Spanish and I do (or at least, used to. Rust never sleeps). So my assumption on that account comes from personal experience, don't know about anyone else.
A man legally forbidden from possessing a firearm is in charge of America's nuclear arsenal. Have a nice day.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Username on Tuesday January 07, @05:44PM (2 children)
Third, when the power goes out, it's usually for everyone in an area. You'd have to drive out of your way to charge. Or get a generator, but what is the point in the ev if you have a generator in the back?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 08, @07:38PM
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday January 09, @05:55PM
The power has gone out here for more than five minutes only once since the 2006 tornadoes, the summer before last. I was wishing I had an EV, I wouldn't have had to throw away all of that food. The Track Shack, three blocks away, had power. I spent my afternoons there drinking beer, charging my phone and tablet, and staying out of the broiling heat.
And if the city is without power, so are the gas stations. That is not an advantage of pistons over EVs, the only advantage is there are gas stations at every highway exit and almost no EV chargers.
A man legally forbidden from possessing a firearm is in charge of America's nuclear arsenal. Have a nice day.
(Score: 4, Informative) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday January 07, @06:06PM (3 children)
In my experience, you really, really want to do all the charging you can at home. If you can't charge at home, then for now, an EV is a non-starter. I've been burned too many times by some problem with the public charging station. They could all be occupied. They can be out of order, turned off for the night, locked behind a gate, the wrong kind (Tesla and J1772 are the two most common and were mutually incompatible, though I have read that Tesla has become more cooperative), or even just not there because they were recently torn out and your map wasn't yet updated to reflect that. They can also be "ICEd", that is, access blocked by a gasoline powered vehicle, either because the driver didn't realize the spot was for EV charging, or every other spot in the lot was taken, or because the driver is a jerk who is deliberately making life hard for EVs because he hates liberals and/or EVs that much.
And there can just plain not be enough places with a charging station. The problem is that charging takes such a long time that unlike a gas station halfway along your route, a charging station halfway along your route is largely useless. Has to be at the end point, which means there needs to be charging stations everywhere, and of course, there aren't. If I have to hike more than 1 km to get from the nearest charging station to my destination, that takes a lot of time, and the point of using a car is that it gets you places fast. Of course if you jog, then you arrive all socially unacceptably sweaty and have to deal with that somehow. I had thought to use whatever exterior outlet the building at the destination might have, but found that unworkable. Outdoor outlets are few and not easily accessible. You might have to run your cord across a sidewalk, and that is a no-no, creates a tripping hazard. One outlet would have been accessible except all the parking around it was handicapped only, so to use that one, I would have had to break that rule and risk a parking ticket.
And they can be out of network. On that, you'd think you could just use a credit card like at a gas pump. But no, you need to set up accounts with each of the half dozen or so vendors whose network you might need. That's 6 more apps on your smart phone, or 6 more special ID cards in your wallet, or maybe both. And $20 of your money in each account, as they insist you keep a positive balance, and give them a credit card number so their system can top up automatically whenever you get low. I understand that in recent years, that's been improving, and many charging stations now will accept a credit card.
Finally, there's a premium on the cost of electricity from a pay public charging station. There are free ones, but those are of course much less common. Apart from the free ones, the best rate on electricity is at home. A pay charging station will still be cheaper than the cost of the gasoline to cover the same distance, but it does cut significantly into the savings you were expecting to get by paying more up front for EV.
Another point is that at home I have done okay with a plain old wall outlet, AKA level 1 charging, the slowest. No need to install a charging station, though you can of course. At level 1, charging all night long can restore around 40 miles worth of range, good enough for my needs. If you do more traveling than that, then, yeah, look into getting a charging station. There are a couple of gotchas about level 1 charging. First, don't put anything else on that circuit. Charging an EV takes all the capacity that a typical home outlet has. If something else is on that circuit and turns on, it's likely to trip the circuit breaker. Real bummer to come out the next morning expecting to have gained 40 miles of range, only to discover something tripped the breaker early in the night (but after you'd gone to sleep) and you got only 5 miles of range. Second, be careful to insure the plug is firmly plugged in and won't slip out hours later. Annoyingly, manufacturers tend not to give you enough cord upstream from the power brick, so that the full weight of that hefty power brick is hanging from the plug if you just plug in and don't do anything else. All too likely to pull the plug out slowly, damaging the outlet with the resistive heating that causes. You are told you can't use extension cords with charging cables, but I have found that you can, though you do need to be careful, don't use a cheap extension cord with thin wires. With or without an extension cord, one slip, one weak connection, and the copious amounts of electricity trying to flow through will get the connection so hot it might scorch and melt plastic. I have ruined an outlet that way. Also have seen a supposedly high quality and capacity extension cord's ends slowly browned from the heat over months of heavy use.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday January 09, @06:17PM (2 children)
They can also be "ICEd"
What would you call the opposite? When I needed to get the snow off of my windshield, I stopped at the gas station by a pump to get snow off of my wipers. Pistoned? Electriced?
If you can't charge at home, then for now, an EV is a non-starter
Yes, if there are no public chargers close, but even a public charger is cheaper than gasoline, and there are all the other advantages to electric over the over-complicated Rube Goldberg device called a "piston drive train".
The environment is the very least of all the advantages of an EV.
The problem is that charging takes such a long time that unlike a gas station halfway along your route, a charging station halfway along your route is largely useless.
Twenty minutes in my car. At home? Two days.
But no, you need to set up accounts with each of the half dozen or so vendors whose network you might need.
True, and it should be a FELONY to demand one use an app to buy something. Especially since from a security standpoint, using a phone for commerce is brain dead stupid. I had a similar bad experience at the weed dispensary, they wanted my phone number! Spamming astards...
Finally, there's a premium on the cost of electricity from a pay public charging station.
I know business owners, who inform me that the cost of utilities for a business is four to six times the cost to a home. Blame your government and power company for that. It's still cheaper than gasoline.
There are a couple of gotchas about level 1 charging. First, don't put anything else on that circuit.
I've had no blown circuit breakers from charging the car, although I blew out a kitchen outlet running the microwave, dishwasher, and coffeepot at the same time. It's not like we use fuses in our homes any more. It's given me no trouble at all.
A man legally forbidden from possessing a firearm is in charge of America's nuclear arsenal. Have a nice day.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Friday January 10, @05:34AM (1 child)
In this context, ICE = Internal Combustion Engine.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday January 11, @07:24PM
I know what the acronym ICE is, what is the opposite is what I asked. EVed? Except I haven't been to a gas station with all of the pumps taken for years. But there are plenty of gas stations, not so public EV charging.
A man legally forbidden from possessing a firearm is in charge of America's nuclear arsenal. Have a nice day.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 08, @05:51AM
Have you considered a bicycle? Or a scooter?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 07, @07:27PM (2 children)
Get a new car now before tariffs drive up prices?
It'll be funny if the biggest effect of Trump's jawboning is to carry demand forward, and tank numbers during the first part of his 2nd administration. Funny but sad of course.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mcgrew on Thursday January 09, @06:32PM (1 child)
Shows how incredibly intelligent my fellow Americans are, voting for a man who promises huge tariffs because you hate the inflation the tariffs will cause.
A man legally forbidden from possessing a firearm is in charge of America's nuclear arsenal. Have a nice day.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 11, @11:37AM
I can see some voters voting for Trump as a protest because both parties are serving shit. Whether it's greater evil or lesser evil you're getting evil. No surprise if many voters decide to vote for someone who would also make life difficult for those behind the scenes.
I'm sure those behind the scenes can still get a lot of what they want from Trump but Biden would have been their preferred puppet. Harris didn't even seem like she wanted to win that much (maybe she doesn't want to get shot/shot at)...