By Haddon Libby
The average cost of a new car is $48,247, up $9,000 from only five years ago. With inventories rising, many believe that the industry may offer more incentives in the new year.
Nearly half of all Buick dealerships in the United States gave up this General Motors brand in 2023. Buick dealerships shrank from nearly 2,000 to 1,000 over the course of the year. The large attrition came as GM offered to buy out dealerships that did not want to invest in EV technology. GM plans on converting all Buick vehicles to electric by the end of the decade.
For the third straight year, Ford holds the distinction of being the brand with the most recalls. Ford had 54 recalls affecting 5.7 million vehicles. General Motors holds the distinction of having the most vehicles recalled at 8 million. If we look at things from the standpoint of which vehicle maker had the largest percentage of its fleet recalled, Tesla wins with a perfect 100%. The issue is with its Autopilot program that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration determined did not adequately keep drivers engaged and paying attention. Fortunately for Tesla, this recall is a software update that is done automatically.
Through the end of November, 14.15 million vehicles were sold in the United States, up 1.5 million vehicles or 12% over the 2022. Pickup trucks and SUVs represent 4 in 5 vehicles sold with sales up 13.2% to 11.2 million vehicles. Passenger car sales were up 8.6% to 3 million.
General Motors sells the most vehicles at 2.35 million units for 16.6% market. Toyota came in second with a 14.3% market share followed by Ford with a 12.6% share or 1.8 million units sold. Stellantis is 4th at 9.9%, followed by Honda 8.4%, Nissan 5.8%, Hyundai 5.6%, Kia 5.1%, Tesla 4.2%, and Subaru at 4.1%.
Other notable brands include BMW with 317,000 in sales, Mercedes at 230,000, Audi at 205,000, Rivian at 46,000 and Jaguar at 7,777. Jaguar is owned by India’s Tata Motors which also owns the Land/Range Rover brands. Land Rover sales were up 24% to 63,300 vehicles through November while Jaguar sales were off 12% as I-Pace’s already poor sales are down by one-third.
The top selling vehicle is the Ford F-Series, up 17.5% to 680,000 units sold. The Toyota RAV4 comes in second with 388,000 units. Honda saw sales of its CR-V jump by more than 100,000 to 325,000 units to become the third best seller in the United States.
Toyota takes spots 4 through 6 with its Camry, Tacoma and Corolla with sales of 265K, 215K and 209K, respectively. Rounding out the top ten are the Hyundai Tuscon (190K sold), the Honda Accord (181K) and the Honda Civic (181K).
Amongst vehicles with more than 100,000 units sold, the Honda Civic saw sales grow the most at 52% followed by Honda’s CR-V 49%, Suburu Forrester 36%, Honda Accord 33%, Ford Transit 28%, Kia Forte 27%, and Ford Bronco Sport (24%).
Toyota Highlander saw sales plunge 22% to 158K units in 2023. Other weak performers include the Ford Ranger, off 39% to 32,000 units, Lincoln Aviator (-36%), Hyundai Sonata (-17%), Toyota 4Runner (-14%), and Ford Explorer (-11%).
Some well-known vehicles slated for the ax in 2024 include the Chrysler’s 300, the Mercedes CLS and Ford’s Edge. The Dodge Challenger muscle-car is being retired in favor of the Charger Daytona SRT EV. As a special limited edition commemorating the end of the Challenger, a 1,000-horsepower version that can go from 0-60mph in only 1.7 seconds called the Demon 170 was made with a MSRP of just over $100,000.
Haddon Libby is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Winslow Drake Investment Management. For more information on our investment management services, please visit www.WinslowDrake.com.
