As Tesla Sales Dip, GM EVs Close the Gap
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Janine Warren wanted an electric vehicle to cut her carbon footprint, but she also wanted a Cadillac, preferably a small SUV.
After General Motors Co. launched its Cadillac Optiq early this year, Warren, an accounting coordinator at the public school district in Norman, Okla., picked one up in April, trading in her gas-burning Cadillac SUV.
“We’re kind of Cadillac people,” she said. “But I feel like this is my favorite car by far, as far as a smooth ride and a quiet ride.”
Americans bought 310,800 electric vehicles in the second quarter of the year, a 6.3% drop from the year-earlier period, according to Cox Automotive Inc. However, the sales dip — 21,000 vehicles — was nearly equal to the slump in transactions for Tesla Inc., the longtime market leader whose CEO triggered a backlash among a wide swath of potential buyers.
Other carmakers also reported sagging sales, but many saw a growing number of buyers. Altogether, EV sales from rival brands were level in the quarter, driven largely by a sales surge for new models from GM. The company is now selling 12 fully electric vehicles in the U.S. and commands 15% of the U.S. EV market, triple that of Ford Motor Co. That means GM is now selling one electric vehicle for every three Teslas, a major coup given Tesla controlled 80% of the market four years ago.
CEO Mary Barra said profitable EV sales are now the company’s “North Star” on an earnings call July 22. “We are growing in EVs because we have a strategic portfolio of vehicles that people love for their design, performance, range and value,” she said.
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. also notched a sales boom in the period. Meanwhile, a handful of brands saw their EVs lose momentum, including Hyundai Motor Co. and Ford, which halted sales of one of its popular models over a software glitch.
GM CEO Mary Barra says profitable EV sales are the company's "North Star."(Daniel Mears/The Detroit News/TNS)
GM appears to have unlocked the puzzle of EV affordability, which remains one of the bugaboos keeping drivers from going electric. Its Chevrolet Equinox EV, which debuted last year, starts at $33,600 without federal or state incentives. That’s almost one-third less than what a typical car or truck sells for in America these days. From April through June, some 17,420 people drove off in an Equinox EV, behind only Tesla’s Model Y and Model 3.
“It’s all about the affordability,” explained Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox. “And consumers are familiar with the Chevy brand.”
GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson has said the Equinox, in particular, is “gaining momentum with mainstream consumers.” At Cadillac, meanwhile, one in five models sold is now electric.
Long-term EV adoption in the U.S. is expected to slump after the Trump administration dismantled federal incentives and continues to attack clean-air mandates. BloombergNEF forecasts 27% of the U.S. market will be electric by 2030, down from the 48% share it estimated a year ago.
However, Cox expects EV buying to be frenzied until Sept. 30, when federal purchase incentives of up to $7,500 per vehicle expire. Ford, for example, is telling dealers to expect a rush of third-quarter buyers.
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“We’re definitely going to see a lot of manufacturers and dealers try to create a sense of urgency,” Valdez Streaty said.
Warren in Oklahoma is one of the customers who accelerated her purchase to grab the government incentives. She had eight months left on the lease of her gas-powered Cadillac, but turned the keys in early. She won’t be buying another combustion engine.
“The technology is only going to get better and the range is only going to get better,” Warren said, “so it’s like, ‘Why go back?’ ”
