With the exception of Tesla, most automakers on Tuesday reported modest sales growth in the three months between April and June as high interest rates, persistently high vehicle prices and uncertainty about the economy and the upcoming presidential election weighed on consumers.
Sales were also hit in late June by disruptions at auto dealers stemming from a cyberattack on a company that provides software and data services to dealers.
Cox Automotive, a market research firm, estimated that 4.1 million new cars and trucks were sold in the second quarter, a slight increase from the same period in 2023. In the first six months of 2024, 7.9 million new vehicles were sold , an increase of 3 percent over the first half of last year, Cox said.
Slow growth is likely to continue through the rest of the year as consumers postpone large purchases until after the election, said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Cox. “The market is rocked by uncertainty,” he said. “We probably won’t be able to keep up with the sales pace of the first half of the year, but we’re not expecting a drop in sales either.”
Cox has forecast that 15.9 million new cars and trucks will be sold this year. That would be an increase from the 15.5 million vehicles sold last year, but still well below the 17 million vehicles sold annually before the pandemic.
General Motors said Tuesday that it sold nearly 700,000 cars and light trucks in the U.S. in the second quarter, up less than 1 percent from the same period last year. The company said it was the highest quarterly total since the fourth quarter of 2020.
The quarterly total included sales of nearly 22,000 electric vehicles, 40 percent more than last year. Almost all were models that used GM’s more advanced Ultium battery technology. The best-selling electric models were the Cadillac Lyric, a luxury sport-utility vehicle, and the Chevrolet Blazer, also an SUV
GM said sales totaled 1.3 million vehicles in the first six months of 2024, down slightly from the same period in 2023.
But Tesla said Tuesday that its global sales fell 4.8 percent to about 444,000 in the second quarter compared with the same period last year. The company’s sales have now fallen for the second quarter in a row; They fell by 8.5 percent in the first three months of the year compared to the previous year.
Tesla’s second-quarter sales came in above analysts’ expectations, helped by price cuts in some markets and the company’s offer to offer loans with interest rates as low as 1 percent on its Model Y sport utility vehicle. Analysts say Tesla likely sacrificed its profits to boost sales.
Tesla once had the electric car market almost entirely to itself, but recently it has faced stiff competition from Chinese automakers such as BYD, Nio and SAIC, which sell cars in Europe under the British MG brand. The Chinese brands are undercutting Tesla on price in their home market while offering features such as dashboard screens that can be rotated using voice commands.
According to Schmidt Automotive Research, Tesla ranked fifth in electric car sales in Europe in April. Tesla ranked behind Volkswagen; Geely Auto, which owns Volvo and Polestar; Stellantis, which owns Peugeot and Fiat; and BMW.
Tesla’s market share in the United States is expected to fall below 50 percent this year as GM, Honda and other established automakers offer models that have newer designs than the Tesla Model Y and Model 3, which account for 95 percent of Tesla -Make sales.
An official industry sales total won’t be available until Wednesday, when Ford Motor is expected to release its latest sales figures.
The auto industry is still trying to restore a sense of normality after the pandemic crippled auto production and manufacturers grappled with shortages of key parts for much of the past three years.
According to Cox, dealers now have a good inventory of new vehicles – about 2.8 million. But rising prices for new cars have made purchasing more difficult for many consumers. Cox said the average price of new vehicles sold in May was $48,389, close to the record high of about $50,000 reached in late 2022.
High interest rates have also dampened demand for new vehicles. The average interest rate on new car loans was 10 percent in June, the highest in 24 years, Cox said.
Electric vehicles have been a growth area for automakers for a while, but sales of these models have fallen sharply over the past 12 months. Cox said just under 300,000 battery-powered cars and trucks were sold in the second quarter, about the same number as the same period last year.
Consumer interest in such cars has waned because they tend to sell at higher prices than gasoline models and because many potential buyers are concerned about how far they can drive with a fully charged battery and how difficult it is to refuel.
At the same time, interest in hybrid vehicles, which have an internal combustion engine as well as batteries and electric motors, has increased significantly. That has helped automakers like Toyota, Honda, Hyundai-Kia and Ford, which offer hybrid models.
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2024-07-02 16:26:49
www.nytimes.com
