2023 Sales Round-Up: GM And Toyota Lead Market Revival

2023 Sales Round-Up: GM And Toyota Lead Market Revival

Most automakers in the USA saw an uptick in sales last year.

2023 was the car industry’s best year since the pandemic, with approximately 15.5 million vehicles sold in the United States based on data from Wards Intelligence. That’s an increase from the 13.9 million cars sold in 2022, buoyed by improved inventory and some attractive incentives last month. General Motors was at the top of the pile, beating Toyota to remain the best-selling carmaker in the country, although GM’s total includes several brands. Porsche is one of the few major automakers that hasn’t yet released 2023 sales figures, so it’s missing from this list. The same goes for exotic brands like Ferrari. Let’s take a look at how the industry’s major automakers fared.

Audi achieved its best year in America ever last year, with deliveries of 228,550 cars, up by 22% year-on-year. Unsurprisingly, the marque’s best-selling individual model was the Q5 SUV, with 74,145 units sold, followed by the Q7 (28,931) and A5 (23,777). Audi’s EV lineup also performed strongly, led by the Q4 e-tron (8,144) and Q8 e-tron (8,180).

“We’re proud to deliver Audi of America’s best year ever,” said Daniel Weissland, President of Audi of America. “Demand for our premium BEV vehicles is stronger than ever, and our momentum will continue into 2024 as we grow our market share with exciting products and experiences.”

As with Audi, BMW also had a record 2023, selling 362,244 vehicles in total, up by 9% over 2022. Adding Mini to 2023’s total brings the BMW Group’s annual sales to 395,741 units.

BMW’s best-selling model was the X5 (72,573), followed by the X3 (63,172), 4 Series (50,777), and 3 Series (33,997). Sales of the X1 jumped by 196.2% as BMW ushered in the latest generation of its subcompact crossover. The iX’s sales increased by over 205% to 5,665 units, contributing to the brand’s electric vehicle sales almost tripling compared to 2022. In total, BMW sold over 45,000 EVs last year.

Mini’s best-selling model was the Countryman, with 12,522 examples sold.

“We attribute the success of 2023 to two main factors – the strength, breadth, and quality of our product lineup, and the close collaboration with our national dealer network,” said Sebastian Mackensen, President & CEO of BMW of North America.

Ford sold 1,995,912 cars in 2023, a 7.1% increase over the previous year. While GM’s several brands sold more, Ford was ahead of more direct rival Chevrolet, even excluding Lincoln sales. The F-Series was once again the top-selling truck, with 750,789 examples sold, almost 200,000 units ahead of the Silverado range. The smaller Maverick found 94,058 homes and the latest Ranger registered 32,334 sales. The latest Mustang is off to a good start, with 13,290 examples of the sports car sold in Q4 and 48,605 for the year. The Mustang Mach-E surpassed 40,000 units, its best year since launch.

Lincoln sales dropped by 2%, but the Navigator had a decent year with 17,549 sales. The Corsair and Nautilus both sold over 24,000 units each.

“In a year of challenges, from a labor strike to supply issues, our amazing lineup of gas, electric and hybrid vehicles and our fantastic dealers delivered solid growth and momentum. We have the products that customers want,” said Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO.

The best-selling automaker last year, GM does have the benefit of several brands under its umbrella, including Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and Buick. GM sold nearly 2.6 million cars in 2023, up by over 14% compared to 2022 and enough to edge out Toyota for the top spot. GM’s performance was led by Chevrolet (1,716,280 units sold), but Buick saw the most significant growth, at 61%.

The best-selling models per brand under GM were the Buick Encore GX (64,149), Cadillac Escalade (41,689), Chevrolet Silverado (555,148), and GMC Sierra (295,737). The new Chevy Blazer EV started with 482 units after launching late in 2023, while the small Bolt EV/Bolt EUV sold over 62,000 – making their last-ever year on sale their best by a big margin.

“GM has tremendous momentum,” said Marissa West, president of GM North America. “We grew our market share in 2023, maintaining strong pricing and low incentives. We led the industry in trucks and had great success with our affordable SUVs like the Chrevrolet Trax and Buick Envista.”

American Honda sales jumped by 33% in 2023, including both Honda and Acura models. Of the 1.3 million total, 1,162,531 were from Honda and 145,655 from Acura. At 361,457 units, the Honda CR-V was the brand’s top-selling model, but it once again failed to match its direct rival, the Toyota RAV4. The Accord (197,947) and Civic (200,381) were neck and neck, and these remain two of the few sedans to make the top 20 in local vehicle sales. The Ridgeline sold 52,001 units, its best year ever.

At Acura, the MDX (57,599) was the best-selling individual model, while the Integra’s 32,090 units represent an increase of 146.3%.

“To have achieved a 33% increase over last year’s sales is an incredible testament to the strength of our products, dealer network and brands,” said Mamadou Diallo, senior vice president of Auto Sales at American Honda Motor Co. Inc.

More records tumbled at Hyundai in 2023, which was the Korean brand’s best total and retail sales year ever in America. Total sales jumped by 11% to 801,195 units, with many models finishing the year with an impressive December. That includes the Tucson, which sold over 200,000 units for the first time over the course of 2023, making it the best-selling Hyundai. It was followed by the Elantra on 134,149 and the Santa Fe on 131,574. On the electric front, the Ioniq 5’s sales increased 48% to 33,918 units last year.

“We finished 2023 with record-breaking total and retail sales and continued a trend initiated almost two years ago by consistently increasing monthly total sales in response to the surge in consumer demand for our products,” said Randy Parker, CEO of Hyundai Motor America.

Sales data for Hyundai’s luxury arm, Genesis, are not available yet.

Like Hyundai, Kia had its best year in the USA yet in 2023, selling 782,451 cars, up by 13%. This growth rate demonstrates a shrinking gap between Kia and Hyundai in this market. At 140,780 units, the best-selling Kia was the Sportage, followed by the Forte (123,953), Telluride (110,765), and Sorento (88,625).

The Telluride handily outsold its corporate cousin and direct rival, the Hyundai Palisade, but the electric EV6’s sales of 18,879 was far off the Hyundai Ioniq 5’s 33,918. The new EV9, a rare three-row electric SUV, started with 1,118 sales after launching in 2023. Overall, 72% of Kia’s annual sales were SUVs.

“Kia is clearly a brand on the move. Our rugged SUVs and innovative EVs are our greatest strength, and demand across the Kia lineup reached all-time highs in 2023,” said Seungkyu (Sean) Yoon, president and CEO of Kia North America and Kia America.

While its overall volumes are still no match for Japanese rivals Toyota and Honda, Mazda did see a healthy growth of 23.2% in 2023, with 363,354 cars sold. The CX-5 isn’t new anymore, but it remains the brand’s most popular vehicle, with 153,808 units sold. The newer CX-50 sold 44,595 examples and appears not to have impacted the CX-5’s performance on the sales charts. Over 30,000 examples of the CX-90 were sold, and here we can see the impact on CX-9 sales, which dropped by almost 50% – no real surprise given the CX-9 was phased out of production. Another good performer was the CX-30, which sold over 77,000 units, an increase of 46%.

Mercedes-Benz USA reported sales of 351,746, up by only 0.2% over 2022. That means BMW outsold its major rival by over 10,000 cars last year. Mercedes did not publish a complete list of individual model sales, but its top-end segment sales increased by a healthy 15%. The GLS notched a 131% increase in sales in the fourth quarter of 2023, while Mercedes-AMG models sold over 40,000 units last year, a rise of 22% compared to 2022. In the brand’s Core segment, C-Class sales reached 32,698, a 25% year-on-year increase, but marginally behind the older 3 Series.
“Our 2023 sales results demonstrate another year of strong brand and volume growth for Mercedes-Benz USA,” said Dimitris Psillakis, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA. “In partnership with the best dealer network in the country, we delivered on our future-forward strategy to significantly grow Top-End Vehicle (TEV) and Electric Vehicle (EV) sales-with EVs comprising 15% of total passenger car sales, and TEV and EVs accounting for nearly half of total sales for the year.”

Throughout 2023, Mitsubishi sold 87,340 cars, a modest increase of 1.8%. The automaker’s relatively small range was led by the Outlander on 42,501 units; a further 6,681 Outlander Plug-In Hybrids were sold. The SUV was followed by the Outlander Sport (15,015) and Mirage (13,219). Rumors suggest the unloved but high-value Mirage could be discontinued in the near future as the brand looks to revitalize its lineup with a range of new electric models over the next couple of years.

The Nissan Group sold 898,796 cars in the USA in 2023, up by 23.2%. Of those, 834,097 were Nissans and 64,699 were Infinitis. Top-selling models were the Rogue (271,458), Altima (128,030), Sentra (109,195), and Kicks (66,823). The latest generation of the Z sports car registered 1,771 sales, well behind the older Toyota GR Supra (2,652).

The aging Leaf EV sold 7,152 units, whereas the much fresher Ariya managed 13,464 for the year.

Infiniti’s charge was led by the QX60 on 29,383, representing a growth of 77.3%. Clearly, the latest generation of the crossover is resonating with buyers. This was followed by the larger QX80 on 12,696. These two models contributed mainly to Infiniti’s 38.8% increase in sales compared with 2022.

Unlike most other automakers, Stellantis sales decreased during 2023, although by a small margin of 1%. Overall, the automaker sold 1,527,090 cars last year, and a minuscule 605 of those were from Fiat. The Italian marque will hope that its new 500 gives it renewed hope in this market, as only the 500X (554 units) managed to find any significant sales success.

Alfa Romeo (down 15%) sold 10,898 cars, including 2,096 examples of the new Tonale. Dodge sales climbed by 5%, led by the powerful Charger (75,920) and Challenger (44,960) twins. The Durango also had a good year, selling almost 70,000 units. Somehow, three people bought a Dodge Dart, which went out of production for the 2016 model year, and another two bought the discontinued Viper.

Chrysler sales climbed by 19%, exclusively because of the Pacifica minivan, which sold over 120,000 units. The 300 sedan went out of production, managing 13,169 units, but Chrysler is desperately in need of a competitive SUV.

Ram and Jeep sales declined by 1% and 6%, respectively, but they remained the biggest sellers for Stellantis. The Ram pickup (444,926), Jeep Grand Cherokee (244,594), and Jeep Wrangler (156,581) were the most popular individual models.

Plug-in hybrid sales increased by 124% for Stellantis last year, driven by the Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe.

An increase of 6.6 percent, Toyota’s 2023 sales of 2,248,477 vehicles (including Lexus) places it behind only GM. However, as a single brand, no other automaker sold more than Toyota. Of Toyota’s considerable sales volume, electrified models account for almost a third, rising by 30%. This group includes hybrids and EVs.

The RAV4 was once again the top-selling SUV in the country, with sales of 434,943, up by 9.1%. It was followed by the Camry (290,649), Corolla (232,370), Tacoma (234,768), and Highlander (169,543). The new Grand Highlander has already racked up 48,036 sales, while the Crown found 19,063 homes. The electric bZ4X reached 9,329 units, but that’s nothing compared to the 565,800 electrified Toyotas that were sold as the brand’s hybrids continue to find favor.

At Lexus, the RX (114,033) was the best performer, while sales of the LX surged by over 90% after the large SUV was completely replaced recently.

“Toyota’s multi-pathway approach to electrification accelerated in 2023 with even more vehicle choices to meet our customer’s lifestyle and budget,” said Jack Hollis, executive vice president of sales, TMNA.

Subaru sold 632,086 cars in the USA in 2023, an increase of 13.6% over 2022. The Outback was the best-performing model on 161,814 units, but the Crosstrek (159,193) and Forester (152,566) weren’t far behind. The electric Subaru Solterra, like its Toyota bZ4X sibling, achieved good growth in 2023. 8,872 units of the Solterra were sold, an increase of 865.4%. The Ascent was the only Subaru to sell fewer cars in 2023 than in 2022 (-4.9%), but it still managed over 60,000 units.

“We closed 2023 on a high note, capping off a year of steady sales gains as the Subaru family saw significant growth last year,” said Troy Poston, Senior Vice President of Sales. “As we kick off 2024, we have great expectations of welcoming even more new customers, and are eager to have them share their adventures with the largest range of vehicles available in Subaru’s history.”

Tesla doesn’t break down sales by region, but we do know that its overall deliveries for the year work out to 1.81 million cars, a 38% increase. Estimates by Automotive News suggest that the EV brand sold 670,000 cars in the USA last year, with almost 386,000 for the Model Y alone. For the Model 3, an estimated 232,700 examples were sold here, making it the best-selling electric sedan and the second-best-selling sedan overall after the Toyota Camry.

Volkswagen sales jumped by 9.3% in 2023, with 329,029 cars sold. At 76,228 units sold, the Tiguan was the best-selling model for VW, followed by the Taos at 58,889. Following a similar trend to other automakers, sales of EVs continue to grow quickly, as evidenced by the ID.4’s 84.2% jump to 37,789 units sold. And, while it can’t match the Civic or Corolla, the Jetta had a healthy year with over 47,000 units sold. Finally, the Atlas (60,859) and Atlas Cross Sport (34,816) contributed significantly to VW’s total.

Volvo’s sales increased by 26.1% to 128,701 cars in the USA in 2023. Once again, SUVs dominated, led by the XC90 (39,920), XC60 (39,702), and XC40 (28,143).

“Throughout the year, we saw strong demand from our customers for our cars, including our Recharge models,” said Mike Cottone, president of Volvo Car USA and Canada. “I’d like to thank our retail partners and loyal customers for their commitment to Volvo Cars as we continue on our electrification and growth journey.”