General Motors remains the best-selling U.S. automaker in 2023, ahead of rival Toyota Motor Corp., as the industry enjoys its best year since the pandemic thanks to easing supply backlogs and sustained demand.
The Detroit automaker avoided a hit from a costly auto strike and announced U.S. new car sales in 2023 rose 14.1% from a year earlier to 2,594,698 units, while Toyota's annual sales rose 6.6% to 224 units. The total was 8,477 units.
Automakers are expected to sell a total of 15,499,224 vehicles in the U.S. in 2023, the highest since 2019, when the industry reported sales of 17,044,011 vehicles, according to figures from consultant Cox Automotive. .
The rebound in sales came after companies ramped up production to meet sustained demand for new cars in 2023, but some analysts have warned that high interest rates will hit demand hard this year. ing.
“High car prices and high interest rates continue to plague the industry, and we expect that trend to continue next year,” Cox said.
In a sign that demand is easing, auto dealers had to offer generous incentives and discounts in December to clear old inventory after two years of holding back on promotions.
“This is the third year in a row that U.S. consumers have spent more than $5 trillion on new vehicles,” J.D. Power said in a report last month.
Electric vehicles have also captured a larger share of consumers' wallets.
Toyota announced Wednesday that sales of electric vehicles rose 30.4% to 657,327 units, accounting for 29.2% of total U.S. sales.
GM sold 75,883 EVs, of which 62,045 were Bolts and 13,838 were Ultium platform EVs.
The Detroit automaker expects strong demand to carry over into 2024, projecting total industry sales of 16 million units for the year.
GM's stock price fell, but it cut a loss after posting full-year sales.
The company also announced this week that it will offer a $7,500 incentive for EVs that lose their U.S. government tax credits.
Cox added that total U.S. EV sales in 2023 are expected to be about 8% of all auto sales, and that number will rise to about 10% this year. But analysts say high interest rates will also hurt EV demand.
“EV sales are likely to continue improving, although not at the astronomical rates the industry has experienced in the past few years,” AutoForecast Solutions said in a report.
