There’s been ample chatter, including plenty on this very website, about Tesla’s lackluster vehicle sales this year. In the first quarter, global deliveries slumped badly. In Q2, they dropped again on a year-over-year basis, though not as severely as some feared.
Sure, Tesla is an integral part of the U.S. electric vehicle market. But this isn’t 2016 and Elon Musk’s firm is far from the only game in town anymore. So what about all the other EV makers that have been nipping at Tesla’s heels all these years? Through the first half of 2024, many of them are doing remarkably well—much better than Tesla is as far as growth is concerned.
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An uneven year for EV sales
EV sales are slowing, but they're also rising and staying flat at the same time. While U.S. EV sales on the whole are growing at a slower pace than before, the story varies widely depending on which car brand you look at. Tesla is having a rough year, while up-and-coming players like Kia are only getting stronger.
In the first six months of the year, non-Tesla brands sold 294,921 electric vehicles in the U.S., a 33% jump over the 221,485 EVs they sold during the same period in 2023, according to an InsideEVs analysis of sales estimates from Cox Automotive. Year-to-date, Tesla’s U.S. sales decreased 9.6%, as compared to the first half of 2023, the data from Cox said.
Add it all together, and U.S. EV sales are up 7.3% this year over last including Tesla. When you consider sales on a quarterly basis, the trend line gets rosier for electrification. On a year-over-year basis, sales increased a meager 2.9% in Q1 and a healthier 11.3% in Q2.
All this is to say, the “EV sales growth is slowing” narrative is true, but it’s also a lot more complicated than it looks on its face. A new class of EV buyers is indeed entering the market. Unlike the enthusiastic, rich early adopters that fueled Tesla’s rise, these mainstream buyers are more budget-conscious and less likely to overlook the pain points of going electric. They have real qualms about charging infrastructure and want vehicles that don’t really come as EVs yet, like three-row SUVs.
But Tesla is also navigating some Tesla-specific problems, like its aging vehicle lineup, lack of a sub-$35,000 offering and loudmouth CEO. Tesla makes up so much of the EV market—just under half in Q2, according to Cox—that it’s dragging down numbers for the U.S. at large.
The rest of the EV industry is growing at a healthy pace. For more proof, let’s look at some standout brands from the first half of 2024.
After some early manufacturing stumbles, the Cadillac Lyriq is finally selling in significant numbers. Cadillac sold 13,094 Lyriqs in the first half of this year, a 465% increase over the same period last year. In Q2, the Lyriq comprised nearly one-fifth of Cadillac sales, according to Cox.
Kia’s EV sales jumped 112% to 29,392 cars over the same span, largely thanks to the new EV9 three-row SUV, which has basically no competitors as of yet. Its sister brand Hyundai notched a not-too-shabby 34.3% rise to 29,105 units sold, according to Cox.
BMW is up 38%, with a total of 24,794 EVs sold between its i4, i5, iX and i7 models. Ford, the distant No.2 EV brand to Tesla, is up 72%. Many more EV models are coming into play this year, like the budget-priced Chevy Equinox EV or the upmarket Porsche Macan Electric, fueling even greater growth among non-Tesla brands.
Of course, industry analysts point out that it’s a lot easier for carmakers with relatively low EV sales to see remarkable surges like this than it is for a player like Tesla to do the same. And, in recent months, carmakers have been offering generous incentives and lease deals that probably won't last forever. Nevertheless, it’s important to remember that there’s a lot more to the EV growth story than just Tesla.
Contact the author: tim.levin@insideevs.com
