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The US saw an increase in car sales in the second quarter, despite higher prices for customers.
Auto sales rose 16.8% to just over 4.1 million between April and June, mostly due to subdued demand as factories worldwide suffered from computer chip shortages for nearly two years.
Ivan Drury, director of insights at Edmunds.com, told the Associated Press that for most of last year, the trend toward lower median prices and automaker discounts stalled in June as buyers paid an average of $45,978 for a vehicle, he said the study estimates by JD Power.
According to data from JD Power, inventory on dealer lots in June is likely to be a little over 1.2 million.
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General Motors, the maker of the Chevrolet brand, reported a 19% increase in the second quarter compared to 2022. (Mario Tama/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Among automakers, General Motors led the way with nearly 690,000 sales in the second quarter, up 19% year over year. Toyota increased its sales by 7% year-on-year and came in second with 569,000 sales.
Nissan sales were up 33%, Subaru was up 22%, Hyundai and Kia sales were each up 15%, and Stellantis sales were up 6% for the quarter.
Honda posted a massive 45% year-over-year increase, but a parts shortage in 2022 left the manufacturer with poor sales.
Honda reported a 45% increase in second-quarter sales compared to this time last year, when the maker suffered from parts shortages. (Ty Wright/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Ford will release sales figures on Thursday.
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Electric vehicle sales also continued their upward trend, accounting for 7.2% of all new car sales in the first half of 2023, representing more than 557,000 vehicles sold.
Last year, just over 807,000 electric vehicles were sold – about 5.8% of new car sales.
According to Motorintelligence.com estimates, Tesla continued to dominate the industry with nearly 337,000 electric vehicle sales in the US year-to-date.
Tesla continued to dominate EV sales in the second quarter, accounting for 337,000 of the industry’s 557,000 total vehicles sold since early 2023. (Portal/Mike Blake / Portal Photos)
General Motors was second by a wide margin with around 34,000 vehicles sold – the Chevrolet Bolt and the Bolt Electric Utility Vehicle made up the majority of sales. Hyundai recorded a big increase compared to last year with more than 22,000 electric vehicles sold.
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The average interest rate on a new vehicle is likely to remain around 7% throughout the summer.
With prices expected to remain flat and interest rates high, Drury advised those looking to buy a new car to hold off on their purchase for as long as possible. For immediate needs, he recommended keeping upgrades to a minimum.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.