General Motors (GM) and Ford Motor (F) 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 (TSLA) suffered a sales decline. GM stock edged higher on Friday, while Ford stock popped and Tesla jumped.
Toyota Motor (TM) posted declining U.S. new vehicle sales, but marked an EV sales milestone, including hybrid vehicles. Hyundai (HYMTF), which trades over the counter, and Honda Motor(HMC) saw robust hybrid and EV sales, spearheading their overall sales growth.
General Motors Growing Share as Tesla declines
On Friday, GM reported Q4 sales jumped 21%. Its full-year 2024 sales rose 4% to 2.7 million vehicles, in line with Cox analyst views.
The No. 1 U.S. automaker retained the sales crown in 2024, as expected.
GM’s EV sales jumped 50% in Q4 to 43,982 units, and vaulted 125% in 2024 to more than 114,000 units, the sales release showed.
The EV tally suggests that GM was the distant No. 2 U.S. EV seller behind Tesla in 2024, in terms of fully battery electric vehicles. But as Tesla sales declined in 2024, GM said it nearly doubled its U.S. EV market share over the course of 2024, reaching around 12% in Q4 from 6.5% in Q1, after launching several new Cadillac and Chevrolet electric models, such as the Equinox EV.
Tesla’s U.S. sales fell 6% in 2024 to around 633,000 electric vehicles, Cox analysts estimated. Tesla itself does not break down its EV sales by country or region. Its U.S. market share dipped by a fraction in 2024 to reach 4%, according to Cox estimates.
One in Four: Electrified Vehicles Go Mainstream
The U.S. market posted record electric vehicle sales in 2023 and 2024, and this trend is expected to continue in 2025. Cox Automotive predicts that one out of every four vehicles sold in 2025 will be electrified, with electric vehicles accounting for approximately 10% of the market total in the year ahead, up from roughly 7.5% in 2024. Hybrids and plug-ins will account for approximately 15% of the market and sales of pure internal combustion engine vehicles — ICE products — will tumble to 75% of total volume, the lowest level on record.
EV growth will be supported by approximately 15 additional EV models entering the market, consumers deciding to buy before policy changes are enacted, and state-level incentives countering potential federal cuts. The expansion of the EV charging network is also contributing to this growth.
Musk’s fascism? Show us the causal link for this claim that his ‘fascism’ caused a sales decline, please. I’ll wait…
Have you seen those “I bought this before Elon [whatever]” bumper stickers on the Teslas of regretful buyers?
Of course, Captain Ketamine might not have nearly as much an impact on Tesla sales as (1) the assorted problems with the batteries and self-driving tech, or (2) the better variety of new models of BEVs and PHEVs (for apartment dwellers and range worriers) available to buyers.
I suspect sales were slower because many interested buyers are waiting for the new Juniper model. I think that’s a bit more likely than Musk’s supposed ‘fascism’. But maybe not. That’s why I asked for causal evidence for this rather extraordinary claim. But I understand tribal allegiance means publicly vilifying all things Musk to keep the merit badge. In this pursuit, who really cares about what’s true? Maintaining membership is everything. I get it.
Should stick a bone in its’ nose and send it back to Africa
I’d suggest what you’re really upset about is Peter calling Musk ‘fascist’ rather than the concept that Musk’s recent political activity might theoretically affect Tesla sales. The latter is just common sense – if any CEO of any company started shouting offensive things to half a company’s customers on a non-stop basis, that company should reasonably expect sales to suffer.
‘Proof’ of it can only be in the form of polls and sales numbers. The sales numbers clearly show Tesla sales down in the U.S. and other EV makers sales up, and this despite Tesla arguably having a far superior product on the market right now. We’d especially see the effect in a place with high numbers of liberals in the market for Evs, like California:
https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-falling-california-sales-are-bad-for-elon-musk-2024-10
Here is a poll showing the effect:
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/would-be-tesla-buyers-snub-company-musks-reputation-dips-2024-04-01/
Honestly, what’s surprising to me is that the rate of decline in the sales numbers isn’t higher. Of course Musk is affecting sales! This shouldn’t be controversial at all. (Tesla sales in China are up – but I’m guessing Musk affecting politics in the West isn’t a hot button issue for them.)
As for ‘fascist’, Musk’s latest antics put him backing Andrew Tate’s run for British PM. Maybe that isn’t quite the level of a Mussolini, but it’s not terrifically far off.
As for ‘merit badges’ and so on, you throw that stuff out very freely, but you don’t acknowledge your own club – the ‘ride or die’ Muskian fanboi club. We get it – you love Musk. Good for you. It might be the case that others here don’t. And that’s a shame, because most here WERE Musk fans before he went hardcore right. If he’d just ‘shut the eff up’, like he’s so fond of telling people on the left to do, he might even gain back some of the enthusiasm he once held in liberal circles.
I would quite confidently argue that Tesla is not a superior product to my e-Mini (BMW)
In the seventies I had a Pinto. Great car, nowhere near as dangerous as a Tesla. In 2024, Tesla recalled approximately 5.1 million vehicles—more than any other U.S. car manufacturer, with Ford coming in second place with 4.3 million recalls. Tesla Cybertruck accounted for at least 28,250 of those recalls.(source)
Tesla vehicles in general? As of December 27th of 2024: Tesla Deaths Total: 647 | Tesla Autopilot Deaths Count: 52, including 2 fatalities involving the use of Full Self Driving. (source)
Motor Trend has deemed Tesla the deadliest vehicle in the world, citing a study by iSeeCars.com, which found that Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate of all car brands followed by Kia, Buick, Dodge, and Hyundai.
There is a lot more to Musk that initially met the eye, he didn’t buy “Twitter” to make money, “Twitter” now called “X” abandoned fact checking, and now META/Facebook is following suite, I’m afraid we are entering a dark period in our cycle, after seeing some ray of sunshine post two devastating world wars.
If nothing else, seeing president musk get dumped on is sorta pleasing.