Sales

With new vehicle volumes poised to decline through 2026, dealerships are understandably concerned about the future. Sales are estimated to retract by 2.5 percent (year-over-year) in the United States while leases could drop by as much as 3 percent. Canada is poised to have it even worse, with sales declining by as much as 4.7 percent. However, retailers still have an ace up their sleeve by way of their service departments.

April saw new car buyers flock to dealer showrooms ready to wheel and deal on the vehicle they wanted — last year. That meant Ford Motor Co. and the rest of the industry were facing a tough task this April to come close to last year’s numbers — and the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker fell short.

General Motors reported its earnings rose 21.9 percent on an adjusted basis for the first quarter of 2026, led in large measure by industry-leading full-size pickup sales. However, the company’s net income dipped 5.7 percent due to costs related to its electric vehicle program.

When automakers report April sales next week, the numbers are going to be a bit ugly, analysts predict, but the comparisons to last April are tough because the numbers were artificially inflated, they note.

Few products obey the laws of supply and demand like new and used cars, but the used car market is currently acting like a rebellious teenager. Despite a significant drop in supply, previously owned vehicles saw only a small price hike in March of less than one percent.

An economist took to The New York Times to argue that the inexpensive small car was killed by wealthy buyers.

With rising gas prices now combining with average sales prices at near-record highs, automakers looking for a successful second quarter need to ramp up efforts to make vehicles more affordable and more efficient.

The head of Volkswagen’s  Scout Motors unit insists legal actions by several dealers won’t thwart the automaker’s direct-to-consumer sales model.

Most of the top automakers in the U.S. saw new vehicle sales slump in the first quarter, many of them pointing to big drops in March sales as the cause for Q1 deficits.

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Ford Motor Co. reported its new vehicle sales in February were down 5.5 percent while Volvo Cars saw its global rolling three-month sales period between December 2025 and February 2026 down 10 percent compared to the same timeframe a year ago. 

As a whole, automakers reported a solid sales month in February; however, the actual numbers varied wildly depending upon the company, ranging from Kia setting a new record to Subaru suffering nearly a double-digit decline.

Automakers are expected to share that new vehicle sales fell between 3.4 percent and 3.8 percent as dealers battled tough winter weather and rising prices.

Automakers realize that consumers are more concerned than ever about the affordability of new vehicles. They received some good news in January as affordability improved for consumers when it came to new cars, trucks and utility vehicles.

While most automakers that reported January sales Tuesday offered positive news, Ford Motor Co. didn’t follow suit Wednesday as its January sales fell 5.3 percent. 

January typically brings in some bitterly cold days, and while that’s been true for the weather across parts of the country, new vehicle sales were just the opposite as Kia, Hyundai, and Toyota reported big jumps to kick off 2026.

When it comes to sales numbers, 2025 was a good year for the auto industry; however, no company may have had a better year than General Motors, which saw all four of its divisions post sales increases over the previous year.

Toyota’s reticence to make the jump into fully electric vehicles paid off big in 2025 as it reported an 8 percent sales increase for the year with hybrids playing a major role.

American Honda overcame supplier shortages to sell 1.43 million new vehicles in 2025, topping the previous year’s total — slightly.

The public’s never-ending love of pickups combined with a new appreciation for hybrid vehicles fueled a 6 percent jump in new vehicle sales for Ford Motor Co. in 2025.

General Motors reported $2.7 billion in net income for all of 2025 despite taking $7.2 billion charge in fourth quarter after it rolled back its electric vehicle plans because of declining demand for EVs. The charge resulted in a $3.3 billion loss during the final quarter of the year.

Matt P. covered Subaru's WRX price cut today, along with the car's sales issues.

Will dropping the price give this generation of the WRX a shot in the arm? Or do we need to wait until the next generation arrives?

Subaru has tweaked the pricing of the 2026 WRX following what looks to be one of the worst sales periods in the model’s history. Deliveries of the model fell by over 40 percent last year in the United States, spelling trouble for the all-wheel drive sport compact. In response, Subaru has brought back the base trim — lowering the WRX’s entry point by over $5,000.

As the sales have come in for 2025, all things considered they are damned good, perhaps worthy of some champagne-cork popping (or at the very least the opening of a screw-top bottle of some top-shelf jug wine).

Mitsubishi's sales took a dive in 2025 -- both overall and in the fourth quarter.

Volkswagen had a bit of a rough 2025, sales-wise.

Sales numbers from the fourth quarter of 2025 have begun to trickle in. Nissan had a slight boost, but Infiniti was down a tad.

Automakers are running out of ways to rationalize price increases. They’ve done just about everything to excuse themselves as the average transaction price for a new vehicle in the U.S. reached a record high of $50,080 last month. But all they really have left is covertly boosting destination fees or blaming tariffs. Unfortunately, the limit for the former looks to have been reached. Attaching price hikes to tariffs has been something the industry has attempted to avoid. However, it looks like the last excuse they’ll be able to make.

The average transaction price for new cars has crossed $50K.

Would you pay that much for a new car?

While the role of tariffs enacted by President Donald Trump might be small when it comes to rising average transaction prices, the tariffs are costing car dealers money. At least according to one report.

Sales data for most automakers has come in. We've prepped a chart to look back at what happened in Q3, 2025.

We’ve probably said it a hundred times over the last several years and we’ll continue saying it until the situation improves. North American vehicle prices are totally out of whack in relation to what consumers can actually afford. Reports presently have the average person spending just shy of $50,000 on a new vehicle in the United States while Canadians are spending roughly $64,500 CAD — about $47,000 USD. But what are people spending in the rest of the world?

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While Chinese-built EVs are seeing an uptick in global sales, particularly in Europe, the home market has grown concerned that oversupply has become a massive issue. China’s government has reportedly asked the automotive sector to stop lowering prices.

Subaru released the VB-generation WRX for the 2022 model year, immediately stirring controversy with the car’s funky styling, high price, and lack of an available STI model. Buyers are voting against the car with their wallets, as it saw declining sales last quarter, while Subaru overall increased sales by 4.5 percent..

General Motors has reported a profit fall of about 35 percent shortly after Stellantis announced taking a sizable financial hit of its own. Both companies have predictably attributed the loss to tariffs being imposed on imported parts and automobiles. GM is estimating that net income declined by $1.9 billion, with import tariffs costing the automaker a claimed $1.1 billion.

Facing several periods of falling sales, Tesla is pulling out all the stops to drive interest in its electric vehicles. The automaker is offering deals on every vehicle it sells, including hefty price cuts and other incentives.

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As tariffs became a reality for American companies, Ford began offering employee pricing to help quell buyers’ concerns over rising prices. That move turned out to be a smart one for Ford, driving a significant increase in sales, but the automaker is now pivoting to a new strategy.

Sales for Jaguar have been on a downward trend for a while and the brand endured a 97-percent decline in European volume (year-over-year) in April. That’s according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, which also reported that total Jaguar sales have declined 77.8 percent year to date compared to 2024. However, everything is allegedly going according to plan because the company has purposefully decided not stop producing cars last year.

President Donald Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" passed today, and the bill holds mixed news for new-car buyers.

We have one more sales report to bring you before going on break for the holiday. That would be Stellantis/FCA US.

BMW has reported its sales for the second quarter and first half of 2025.

Sales results for the second quarter and first half of the year are rolling in, and we'll likely have some more tomorrow. Has anything you've read here or elsewhere surprised you so far?

The year 2025 is somehow already almost half over, and we have some more sales results. This time, it's Kia.

General Motors has reported a 7 percent U.S. sales increase in the second quarter and a 12 percent increase for the first half of 2025.

Honda has shared sales data with us today -- and here's how the quarter played out.

Automakers love to extoll the virtues of long warranties, for fairly obvious reasons. And Ram has unveiled a 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty for its trucks.

In what is likely a reaction to tariff taxes put in place by the Trump administration, new data is showing that vehicle shipments to this country have plummeted by about 70 percent.

Today we'll keep it simple. In honor of today's podcast, I want to ask you -- what's your favorite car color?

BMW's pricing guide for the 2026 model year M3 has leaked online. A base-trimmed M3 looks like it’ll be setting buyers back $78,400. Meanwhile the M3 Competition and Competition xDrive will be priced at $82,600 and $87,700, respectively. That’s an increase of $1,700 across the board before factoring in destination fees or any dealer markups you might encounter. However, the cars appear to be mechanically unchanged.

New-car pricing keeps going up -- at what point will all but the wealthiest people be priced out of the market? Will that even happen?

Ranking up there with news that the ‘sky is blue’ and ‘water is wet’, it should not surprise our informed readers to learn the so-called Average Marketed Price of a new vehicle in this country has once again crested the $50,000 mark.

Though it was heavily delayed, the Tesla Cybertruck quickly became the best-selling electric pickup once it finally arrived. While it’s still selling, the Tesla has been overtaken by a legacy brand’s electric truck, dropping into the number-two spot behind the Ford F-150 Lightning.

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Volvo had a solid 2024, landing record sales numbers and profits, but the picture hasn’t been as rosy for the Chinese-owned Swedish automaker so far in 2025. Its first-quarter results showed massive drops in operating income, revenue, and sales, leading Volvo to shift its focus to cost-cutting to right the ship.