24/7 Wall St. Insights
- General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM | GM Price Prediction) sold more electric vehicles than Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) did in July and August.
- But Hyundai/Kia outsold them both in the first eight months of the year.
- Also: Dividend legends to hold forever.
Few thought any legacy car company would catch up with Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) in the United States for years. By the most recent measure, it still has 49% of the market, although it has fallen to that level as global manufacturers have picked up share. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) appeared to be most likely to take the number two spot with its planned $30 billion electric vehicle (EV) investment and the F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E launch. However, General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) has begun to challenge Ford.
CNBC got numbers for GM’s EV sales through August. GM normally only releases numbers by quarter, which means there would have been no data until after September.
The figures show that neither Ford nor GM has the number two spot. It belongs to South Korea’s Hyundai/Kia, which, according to CNBC’s numbers, had U.S. EV sales of 83,642 through the first eight months of 2024.
Ford was solidly ahead of GM for the year’s first six months. Now, the top U.S. car company has almost caught up. GM sold 20,948 in July and August, bringing its eight-month total to 59,303. Ford sold 17,186 EVs in July and August, bringing its eight-month total to 61,366.
What happened? For one thing, Chevy, GM’s largest division by sales, has three EVs: the Equinox, Blazer, and Silverado. The gasoline-powered Silverado full-size pickup is often the second best-selling vehicle in the United States after the Ford F-Series. However, the Silverado EV does have a drawback that will hurt sales: its price is $96,495.
Cadillac, GM’s luxury division, has been heavily promoting its new Lyriq crossover. At $57,195, it is reasonably priced for an EV in its class. Cadillac also has another EV crossover, the Optiq, priced at $58,895.
To some extent, the race between GM and Ford will be determined by which has the most EV models to appeal to a wide range of buyers. EV drawbacks, including range and charging station counts, will not disappear soon. So, even as model counts grow, total sales figures will be limited.
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