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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
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday January 07 2025, @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 2025, @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 2025, @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.
Ever had a belch so satisfying you have to blow your nose afterward?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by VLM on Tuesday January 07 2025, @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 2025, @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.
Ever had a belch so satisfying you have to blow your nose afterward?
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday January 09 2025, @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.
The Stupid-Ass Voter Evisceration act: SAVE Trump and his family from prison
(Score: 3, Interesting) by mcgrew on Thursday January 09 2025, @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.
The Stupid-Ass Voter Evisceration act: SAVE Trump and his family from prison
(Score: 4, Touché) by VLM on Tuesday January 07 2025, @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 2025, @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.
The Stupid-Ass Voter Evisceration act: SAVE Trump and his family from prison