AP – New vehicle sales in the United States (US) rose nearly five per cent from January through March, as buyers stayed in the market despite high interest rates. But electric vehicle (EV) sales growth slowed during the first three months of the year, with mainstream buyers wary of limited range and a lack of charging stations.
Automakers, most of which reported US sales numbers on Tuesday, sold nearly 3.8 million vehicles in the first quarter versus a year ago, for an annual rate of 15.4 million in sales.
With inventory on dealer lots growing toward pre-pandemic levels, auto companies were forced to reduce prices. JD Power said the average sales price in March was USD44,186, down 3.6 per cent from a year ago and the largest recorded decline for the month of March.
The company said automaker discounts in March were two-thirds higher than a year ago, around USD2,800. That includes increased availability of lease deals. JD Power expected leases to account for almost a quarter of retail sales last month, up from 19.6 per cent in March of last year.
Sales of EV grew only 2.7 per cent to just over 268,000 during the quarter, far below the 47 per cent growth that fuelled record sales and a 7.6 per cent market share last year. The slowdown, led by Tesla, confirms automakers’ fears that they moved too quickly to pursue EV buyers. The EV share of total US sales fell to 7.1 per cent in the first quarter.
Nearly all of the early adopters and people concerned about internal-combustion engines’ impact on the planet have bought EV, and now automakers are facing more skeptical mainstream buyers, Edmunds Director of Insights Ivan Drury said.
“That’s where all of those headwinds come in that we’ve seen in survey data,” Drury said.
“Those real-world concerns about charging infrastructure, battery life and insurance costs.”
