Toyota Sales Surge While Tesla Misses the Mark: Q1 2024 Sales Report

There are a few significant trends playing out in the year's first major sales reports

By
Zach Butler
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2024 Toyota RAV4 lineup
(Image: Toyota)

U.S. Tesla sales were down more than 13% in the first quarter, while Toyota posted a 20% gain.

Despite ongoing conversations about inflation and new vehicle prices rising higher than ever, folks did turn out to buy more new cars in the first three months of 2024 than by this time last year. In fact, the whole U.S. market sold 3.8 million vehicles through March 31, which is about a 5% increase from January through March 2023.

As ever, consumers preferred some brands over others, with both major gains and losses across the industry. General Motors, Kia and Stellantis posted sales losses (1.5%, 2.5% and 10%, respectively), while Toyota and Honda both posted double-digit hikes in sales volumes (20% and 17%).

Tesla Model 3 Highland revamp - featured

Electric sales have slowed to a glacial pace

While analysts have been sounding the alarm over the past several months, this year’s first set of quarterly sales reports shows the current state of the electric vehicle market. Despite some reports suggesting the contrary, EV sales are still growing — they just aren’t growing anything like as rapidly as automakers hoped, as 2023 was a watershed year for new launches. Over the first three months of 2024, EV market sales grew by less than 3%, while market share fell from a record 7.6% at the end of last year to 7.1% by March 31.

Tesla, as a purely electric company, is feeling the sting worst than most. Its global deliveries fell nearly 9% from Q1 2023’s strong results, with the automaker getting 386,810 vehicles to customers around the world. The company cites factory changes to the new “Highland” Model 3, shipping delays caused by conflict in the Red Sea and an arson attack at Gigafactory Berlin for the slowdown. Some recent articles also noted the love-or-hate antics of CEO Elon Musk as a catalyst driving some buyers away from Tesla toward other EVs.

Regardless of how much stock you put into that claim, these recent sales results highlight another, potentially long-reaching issue affecting the entire EV sector — not just Tesla — in the near to mid-term future.

At this point, early adopters and those wanting to reduce their immediate carbon footprint through buying an EV rather than an internal combustion vehicle have already made the plunge. Analysts note a major challenge now is for the far more skeptical mainstream consumer to buy in. And at this point, they aren’t, much to the consternation of automakers that have already poured billions of dollars into new electric platforms and vehicles.

2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5

Plenty of folks still did buy EVs in Q1 2024, however, and these are the most popular:

  • Tesla Model 3/Y: 369,783 units (down 10.3% globally; delivery figures are not U.S.-specific)
  • Other models (including Model S/X and Cybertruck): 17,027 units (up 59.2% globally; delivery figures are not U.S.-specific)
  • Chevrolet Bolt EV/EUV: 7,040 units (down 64.3%; model was discontinued after the 2023 model year)
  • Ford Mustang Mach-E: 9,589 units (up 77%)
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5: 6,822 units (up 18%)
  • Cadillac Lyriq: 5,800 units (up 499.2%)
  • Hyundai Ioniq 6: 3,646 units (up 1,542%)
    • The automaker does not break out sales for the Kona EV, but overall Kona sales were up 20% to 23,054 units.
  • BMW iX: 2,945 units (up 25.3%)
    • BMW does not break out i4, i5 or i7 sales from the gas-powered models.
  • Toyota bZ4X: 1,897 units (up 11.7%), and it’s platform-mates:
    • Lexus RZ: 1,603 units (up 766.5%)
    • Subaru Solterra: 1,147 units (down 15.6%)
  • GMC Hummer EV (includes pickup and SUV): 1,668 units (up 83,300% from the 2 it sold in Q1 2023)

Hybrid sales, on the other hand, are accelerating

Part of Toyota’s major surge over the past three months partially comes down to what people are buying instead of EVs: hybrids. Again, earlier reports highlighting the company’s bearish approach toward full EVs later noted that the world’s largest automaker is actually in a good market position, as buyers aim for a better compromise for their needs without many of the downsides of going for a full electric vehicle.

Putting aside any political leanings or your views on climate change (and the collective drive to move the market toward a fully electric future), the numbers show where the consumer mindset currently is. Toyota’s electrified vehicle sales, which encompass gas-electric hybrids, plug-in hybrids, battery EVs and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, jumped 76.4% from Q1 2023 to 177,778 units. Lexus, for its part, also saw its hybrid sales rise 61.1% (to 29,072 units) in the first three months of 2024.

Perennial favorites like the Toyota RAV4 also enjoyed massive sales volumes in the first quarter. Including its hybrid and gas variants, the RAV4 enjoyed sales of 124,822 units — which is a dramatic 47.4% increase from the 84,704 units it sold in Q1 2023. It’s also worth noting, as well, that even old-school models like the 4Runner have picked up, too. In fact, the decade-plus-old SUV sold 33,823 examples through March 31, up 60.2% from a year ago.

So, while EVs face some headwinds moving forward, buyers are strongly inclined toward hybrids right now, while old favorites like the 4Runner (which is getting an imminent redesign, likely with a hybrid option) are attracting those who aren’t ready to make the jump just yet.

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