Summary
- February’s year-over-year sales compared to 2023 show a snapshot of an automotive industry facing significant struggles, with a few standout winners
- Toyota is posting sales increases across the board, from SUVs to family cars
- Ford is facing a tentatively good 2024, with January being an “off-month” as almost all models have bounced back from slow sales
- GM has taken a strategic gamble to wind down non-hybrid trims of many models, with the goal of gaining more sales due to the market shift towards EVs and hybrids as a whole.
- BMW has focused on executive utility and executive luxury, as well as introducing more EV and hybrid models, seeing strong sales in each of those segments
- Tesla, unsurprisingly, continues to dominate the EV market overall
- We think that while the whole industry is facing less growth than 2022 to 2023, these five manufacturers show a good overall picture of the state of the industry year-over-year
February’s new car sales figures provide plenty of insights into the automotive market, with each automaker facing a unique blend of triumphs and challenges. Against the backdrop of an 8.8% increase in total vehicle sales overall year-over-year in the US, a thorough analysis shows that domestic brands are facing some challenges while foreign brands are growing in popularity and sales. Let us look at the biggest winners and losers of February’s new car sales.
Toyota’s Triumph
At the forefront of February’s winners stands Toyota, posting a remarkable 16% year-over-year increase in sales. The driving force behind this success lies in Toyota’s wide model selection, with a vehicle for pretty much everyone and anyone.
A standout performer in this regard is the brand’s family car lineup, especially with the Corolla in all of its trims moving 22.3% more units YOY. The Camry also posted a worthwhile gain of 7% units sold.
The biggest winner, however, was the RAV4, especially in its newer hybrid form, with a shocking growth of 44% YOY. By contrast, the full-size SUV Highlander dropped by about the same 44%, with the slack picked up by is slightly smaller 4Runner cousin, which posted the highest YOY growth at 92.8% YOY
Overall, Toyota has seen very strong, continuous sales throughout the past 12 months, and looks to be on track to have another very successful year.
Ford’s Tentative Success
In stark contrast, Ford found itself riding a pretty fine line in February. Despite posting overall 7.1% YOY sales, those sales were focused almost entirely in trucks, with the SUV and CUV sales not showing much growth except in hybrid models.
The largest of these challenges arise from supply chain disruption ripple effects continuing on from the global pandemic, as well as the global silicon shortage of 2022 and 2023 continuing to affect production of hybrid and EV vehicles.
Despite these challenges, glimmers of hope emerge in Ford’s EV and hybrid trucks. The Maverick Hybrid sales skyrocketed, moving 73.4% more units than in February 2023.
As well, the premium Mach-E electric vehicle rebounded from a very rough January 2024, where it sold only 50% YOY to January 2023, by posting 64.3% increased sales compared to February 2023.
We label this as a tentative success as the pure YOY sales are up, but the “big models” such as the F-Series are going through significant challenges.
General Motors’ Perfect Storm
GM encountered a surge in 2023, with sales of 14.1% YOY against 2022.
This has continued into 2024, although GM has started phase-outs of certain sedan models, although only along their purely petrol powered trims. This is because there is a strong push towards hybrid and EV versions of those same sedans.
In terms of sales, it was actually Buick that held up the largest percentage of the 14.1%, with the Enclave being the biggest winner at nearly 40% year over year. The Chevy Camaro also helped with a 15.8% increase YOY.
On the “traditional” truck side using diesel or petrol without hybrid assist, the GMC Sierra model line is up a hair over 10% YOY so far, and looks to be the most popular model to date in 2024.
Of all of the American big three manufacturers, GM’s plan for sustainable and long term electrification has the most promise of sales skyrocketing over the next few years. Just look to then new Corvette C8 E-Ray hybrid, with a waitlist already over a year long as of this writing.
BMW’s Executive Luxury Surge
Shifting focus to the premium and executive sectors, BMW emerged as a beacon of success in February. The Bavarian automaker reported an impressive 12% increase in sales year-over year, with the the surge in sales mainly in the SUV lineup.
Models like the X3 and X5 witness sales spikes of 17% and 10%, respectively. On the executive sedan side of things, the 7-Series has posted a respectable 8% YOY sales gain, despite most of the other number-Series cars save the 2-Series (13% increase YOY) posting slight losses YOY.
Moreover, BMW’s strategic foray into electric mobility has raised its appeal among environmentally-conscious consumers, although many of their EV models are so new that accurate YOY sales figures are hard to come by.
Tesla’s Sustained Electric Dominance
Tesla continues to chart record numbers especially year-over-year in February, with sales surging by an impressive 22%. The sustained demand for Tesla’s electric vehicles marks it as the only brand that has not seen a downturn in its EV sales, especially with prices tumbling close to pre-pandemic rates.
Notably, the Model Y and Model 3 vehicles emerged as standout performers, witnessing a remarkable 31% increase in sales compared to the previous year.
As well, the Model 3 continues to be the single-best-selling EV in the world, with a staggering 1.7 million (1,739,707) units sold globally across 2023, and continuing on track to surpass 2 million units sold globally in 2024.
Conclusion
In conclusion, February’s year-over-year new car sales show the volatility of the automotive industry’s tides, with each automaker facing their own challenges and triumphs, however large or small.
While Toyota basks in the glory of versatility and demand, Ford balances on the razor’s edge of success, but can topple down either side at any point. General Motors is taking a small hit in sales with the whole farm bet on future electrification efforts, while BMW captivates discerning consumers with attainable and strategically timed luxury allure. Tesla, unsurprisingly, sustains its dominance in the realm of EVs, with no signs of slowing down as more and more consumers are flocking to the Big T to embrace the electric future.
While there are many more manufacturers out there that have posted both triumphs and failures, we think that the five brands we selected were the best to reflect the overall positive trends across the industry. What surprised us was the rise in foreign sales, from both Asia and Europe, especially when domestic efforts towards hybridization and electrification has seen significant investment in the past year.
