With the third quarter of 2023 fully in the rearview mirror, we can assess the biggest winners in the U.S. race for electric vehicle supremacy. And from the data we’ve seen, it looks like the Hyundai Motor Group’s “hold the line” strategy on EVs is working out nicely—all while some rivals start to slow their roll a bit.
Following our battery electric vehicle sales analysis of the U.S. market concerning individual brands—including volume and share of BEVs in the total volume—today we will take a closer look at the larger automotive groups. The report includes 11 manufacturers for which consistent data are available: BMW Group (BMW and Mini, but without data for the Mini Cooper SE model), Ford Group (Ford and Lincoln), General Motors (the BrightDrop delivery van division, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC), Hyundai Motor Group (Hyundai, but without data for the Hyundai Kona Electric model, Kia and Genesis), Mazda, Mercedes-Benz (excluding its van division), Nissan, Subaru, Toyota Group (Toyota and Lexus), Volkswagen Group (Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche) and Volvo.
Newer companies like Tesla, Rivian, Polestar or Lucid do not break out sales by country or region. Some of the traditional brands also do not report BEV sales in the U.S. or do not sell any BEVs at all in the U.S. (Stellantis), thus they are excluded from the comparison.
BEV Sales By OEMs – Q3 2023
We estimate that the listed 11 traditional automakers represent more than 40 % of the total BEV sales in the U.S. Tesla controls more than half of the market, while the remaining 10% or so is distributed through the rest of the industry. We also anticipate Tesla’s share of the market will decrease and be less than 50% in the not-too-distant future—which is still a lot.
It’s especially notable and interesting that Hyundai Motor Group sold more all-electric cars—28,556 plus an unknown number of Hyundai Kona Electrics since those aren’t broken out—than any other automotive group, excluding Tesla. This is an outstanding result, far outpacing Ford (20,962) and General Motors (20,092), both of which were basically matched by the Volkswagen Group (20,295)—another surprise.
It’s also worth noting that Hyundai, Kia and Genesis together were able to become number one despite being almost completely excluded from the $7,500 federal tax credit incentive outside of leasing. Once the South Korean group starts local production of its mainstream models in the United States, the incentive should be available also when purchasing the car, which will make it an even stronger contender.
The Volkswagen Group is already producing its main model (ID.4) in the U.S., earning full eligibility for the federal tax credit, and this probably helped push it over 20,000 sales recently. Ford and General Motors had a hard time earlier this year, so their results are disappointing, but with a big potential to fight back in the coming quarters if the automakers don’t get too conservative on the EV front.
Meanwhile, let’s also note how strong the German premium brands are. BMW Group clocked 13,079 EV sales without the Mini brand, and Mercedes-Benz came in at 10,423 sales. For reference, Toyota Group barely exceeded 4,000, while Stellantis isn’t even in the game yet.
- Excludes Tesla and other OEMs for which data was not available
- Hyundai sales without the Hyundai Kona Electric model
- BMW Group sales without the Mini Cooper SE
In terms of how EVs stack up in these companies’ total sales, we can see a very strong position for the foreign automakers—mostly the premium ones, like Mercedes or BMW Group.
But for now, this metric is a bit skewed. Not all brands within particular groups are even offering BEVs, which lowers the average of the large groups compared to single-brand automakers.
Here is a tree map version of the chart:
- Excludes Tesla and other OEMs for which data was not available
- Hyundai sales without the Hyundai Kona Electric model
- BMW Group sales without the Mini Cooper SE
- Mercedes-Benz (excluding vans)
BEV Sales By OEMs – Q1-Q3 2023
Year to date, this Q3 result means Hyundai Motor Group is the largest automaker after Tesla for all-electric car sales volume in the U.S. The result is at least 61,865 sales.
GM is noticeably behind with 56,414 units. A big surprise is that the Volkswagen Group with 49,995 units is ahead of Ford at 46,671, which in the previous years outlined a plan to be the no. 2 electric automaker after Tesla. If that happens, it’s not gonna be in 2023.
Next, we can see the BMW Group (at least 31,043) and Mercedes-Benz (29,691). The German duo of premium brands, when counted together, would be almost as big as the Hyundai Motor Group.
We can guess, that Rivian also sold at least 30,000 all-electric vehicles during the first three quarters, because of the 30,240 new registrations during the period, according to Experian (via Automotive News).
Nissan recorded 15,503 sales, Volvo 10,843, while Toyota and Lexus together netted almost 9,000.
All the numbers are overshadowed by close to a half million Tesla EVs sold this through Q3.
- Excludes Tesla and other OEMs for which data was not available
- Hyundai sales without the Hyundai Kona Electric model
- BMW Group sales without the Mini Cooper SE
Now, let’s take a quick look at the share of all-electric cars in the total sales. The market average for non-Tesla vehicles is probably around four % (potentially closer to three % in the case of the traditional brands.)
It means that only a few traditional OEMs are pushing BEVs really hard: Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, BMW Group and Volkswagen Group, with Hyundai Motor Group as the last one, noticeably above average.
These automotive groups are either directly premium and luxury ones, or include premium and luxury brands. In the case of the Hyundai Motor Group, the relatively high share of BEVs in the total sales appears to be a result of the company’s strategy to seriously invest in the all-electric future.
Ford and GM’s results are average, but let’s note the challenges both companies experience and that some of their brands are not yet offering BEVs. On top of that is a large share of pickup trucks, which electrification barely started in general.
Here is a tree map version of the chart:
- Excludes Tesla and other OEMs for which data was not available
- Hyundai sales without the Hyundai Kona Electric model
- BMW Group sales without the Mini Cooper SE
- Mercedes-Benz (excluding vans)
This year, all-electric vehicle sales in the U.S. should easily exceed one million units for the very first time. Some 850,000 units were registered through September (including almost 490,000 or 57% for Tesla), according to Experian.
