Comparing the First Quarter Car Sales of 2023 vs. 2024, the US market has shown resilience and a notable growth after a major slump of 2020. While the interest rates are at all time high and the inventories are in a state of piling up, the US consumer confidence has sailed the market.
Total Sales
In the Q1 of 2023, an increase of 5.7% year-over-year was experienced when compared to that of 2022. A good sign of recovery from the slump it was experiencing. The graph has been optimistic for the year 2024 with sales figures itself speaking up.
2023 Q1 Sales: 3,2m units approx.
2024 Q1 Sales: 3.8m units approx.
Performing Brands
Toyota: The manufacturer saw a decline in 2022, but it rose in 2023 and when compared to the Q1 sales of 2024 it grew 21% in sales. The manufacturer experienced sales of around 486,687 units alone.
Honda: The manufacturer with sales of 303,451 also grew with an impressive percentage of 21% when compared to the 2023 Q1.
Ford: While the production of the F-150 Lightning has seen a cut in production and Ford Trucks saw a decline of 10%. Ford’s spirits were held high by the compacts. With sales of 479,921 units, it experienced a growth of 6% year-over-year.
Volkswagen: With sales of its GTI, Golf and Jetta pulling up. The manufacturer pulled an impressive growth even with 5-figures sales of 82,101 units, which is a 21% growth when compared to Q1 sales of 2023.
Brands That Saw a Dip
Chevrolet with sales of 385,585 units saw a decline in growth by 2%. GMC also experienced the same dip of 2% while Ram saw a major slow down of 26% with 95,308 unit sales in Q1 2024. The trend seems to be shifting towards practical and easy to afford cars, Trucks and SUVs have given way to Sedans, Compact SUVs. Hatchbacks.
Full-Sized Truck Falling Weak
The sales of trucks fell 12%, which is experienced for the first time in 8 years. Only Chevrolet and GMC saw a little rise but it was a pretty hard 3 months for Ford and Ram when compared to 2023. The rise in truck prices, all-time high interest rates and slow down in construction activities.
EVs No Longer Striking a Chord
With 47% percent growth 2023 YoY, EVs fell to just 3.3% growth in Q1 of 2024. Selling 270,000 units approximately. The market share has fallen to 7.15% from 7.6% which was last year. The shift is so monumental that manufacturers like Mercedes have stopped the development of its upcoming EV platform.
Winner Models of Q1 2024 Car Sales
In subcompact SUVs, Chevrolet Trax rose to glory with 37,588 units sold which is a pretty healthy number considering it hit the market last year. Honda HR-V saw a major increase of 44 percent with a sales figure of 38,062 units.
The Luxury Crossover segment saw BMW X1 pulling a 196% growth with 21,042 units sold. This was majorly due to the new face of the X1 which is now sharply styled and looks closer to an X3 than a 3 series sedan.
Hot Hatches from Volkswagen like Golf R and Golf GTI registered doubling of sales when compared to Q1 2023. GTI registered a sales figure of 2412 units which is a 156% increase and Golf R sold 1233 units which is a 125% increase.
In Compact pickups, the Ford Maverick became the manufacturer’s fourth best selling model, being pretty young in age. The small pickup saw a steep increase in sales with 82% growth, with a sales of 39,061 units. It was at a rise of 27% in Q1 of 2023 as well.
“While the sales and expenditure performance are impressive, it is coming at the expense of reduced retailer and manufacturer profitability as inventories of unsold vehicles rise and competitive pressures intensify”
-Thomas King, President, Data & Analytics Division, J.D. Powe
The American car sales have seen a bump in car sales and the new trends might want to make manufacturers think about their compact architectures again. With EV sales also dropping immensely tells how consumers aren’t yet ready to accept electrically juiced cars but hybrids and economical petrol cars.
