U.S. auto sales rose more than expected in the second quarter for Ford, General Motors and Toyota Motor, as supply conditions improve. GM stock and Ford stock fell near buy points Thursday.
In Q2, new vehicle sales for GM and Ford jumped double digits both year over year and quarter over quarter. While both automakers saw some EV momentum, their sales of electric vehicles were generally sluggish. Traditional automakers are making a major shift to electric vehicles amid challenging industry conditions.
GM took the Q2 sales crown as expected. Ford was the top truck seller in Q2 and for the first half of the year, it said.
Stellantis on Monday and Honda on Wednesday reported rebounding new vehicle sales for Q2 in the U.S. market.
Q2 Auto Sales
The annualized sales pace of new vehicle sales for June is set to reach 15.8 million units. That would be up 4.6% from 15.1 million in May and up 22.5% from 12.9 million units in June 2022, J.D. Power and GlobalData estimate.
In unit terms, new vehicle sales should reach almost 4.1 million during the s econd quarter, up 13.2% from Q1 and up 15.3% from Q2 2022, Cox said. Supply-chain issues led to low U.S. vehicle inventories, which curbed sales in the year-ago quarter.
Here is how automakers performed in Q2 vs. the expectations of analysts at Cox Automotive. The estimates show auto sales volume, as well as sales growth or decline vs. a year ago.
General Motors Auto Sales
Q2 sales estimate: 675,417 vehicles, up 16.7% vs. Q2 2022.
Results: GM delivered 691,978 vehicles in the U.S., up 19% year over year and up 15% from the 603,208 vehicles sold in Q1. The automaker reported double-digit sales increases across its brands, including a 17% rise for Chevrolet and 18% gain for GMC.
In Q2, GM sold 15,652 electric vehicles, a sales release Wednesday showed. That was down from 20,670 EVs in Q1. However, GM sold 1,348 units of the important new Cadillac Lyriq electric SUV in Q2, up 39% from 968 in Q1. New Hummer EV truck sales jumped to 47 from two units sold in Q1.
Older-gen Chevy Bolts continued to drive GM's EV sales in Q2, totaling 13,900, and down from 19,700 in Q1. In April, General Motors CEO Mary Barra said her company plans to stop producing Bolt EVs by end of year. GM plans to ramp up sales of newer EV models like the Lyriq, which has faced teething issues.
GM stock rose 1.2% to 39.41 in Wednesday's stock market action and added 0.1% Thursday. GM stock is climbing the right side of a cup base with a 43.63 buy point, according to the IBD MarketSmith chart. Shares cleared an early entry of 38.26 from a too-low handle last week.
Toyota Motor
Q2 sales estimate: 555,402 vehicles, up 4.6% vs. a year ago.
Results: Toyota sold 568,962 vehicles in Q2, based on data from a news release Wednesday. That's up from 469,558 in Q1.
Toyota Motor stock fell 0.7% Thursday.
Ford
Q2 sales estimate: 523,717 vehicles, up 9% vs. a year ago.
Results: Ford sold 531,662 vehicles in Q2, up 10% year over year and 12% more than the 475,906 vehicles sold in Q1.
Ford's ICE (internal combustion engine) sales grew 10% on the back of accelerating truck sales, its sales release Thursday showed. Highly profitable F-series truck sales jumped 34%, year over year, in Q2 and also rose nearly 25% from Q1.
Hybrid vehicle sales climbed 15.7%, year over year, to 34,589.
In Q2, Ford sold 14,843 all-electric or battery electric vehicles (BEVs). That was up almost 37% from 10,866 in Q1.
The BEV tally included 4,466 F-150 Lightning trucks, rising just 4% from Q1. It also included 8,633 Mustang Mach-E SUVs, up almost 60% from Q1, and 1,744 E-Transit vans, up 49% from Q1.
In June, Mach-E sales more than doubled and total EV sales were up 35.5%, Ford said.
"Improved Mustang Mach-E inventory flow began to hit at the end of Q2 following the retooling of our plant earlier this year," Thursday's release said.
Ford stock shed 2.4% Thursday. F stock sits 10% below a 16.68 buy point in a cup base.
Stellantis
Q2 sales estimate: 433,992 vehicles, up 6.2% vs. a year ago.
Results: Stellantis sold 434,648 vehicles in Q2, up 6% year over year. That was also up from 368,237 sold in Q1.The automaker snapped an extended sales slump.
"We saw increased demand this quarter as market conditions continue to improve," Stellantis U.S. sales chief Jeff Kommor said in a news release Monday.
Stellantis stock lost 1.1% Thursday.
Honda
Q2 sales estimate: 350,220 vehicles, up 46.1%.
Results: Honda Motor sold 227,009 vehicles in Q2, up 44%. That was also up from 284,507 auto sales in Q1.
June marked the fourth straight month of sales over 110,000 units, the company said in a sales release Wednesday. But "we now have some industrywide transportation issues to overcome," Honda sales chief Mamadou Diallo said in the release.
Honda stock lost 1.2% Thursday.
U.S. Auto Sales, EV Sales Outlook
Higher vehicle production — after years of constrained auto supply — is driving growth for U.S. auto sales, analysts say. In addition, pent-up consumer demand and rising fleet sales are seen underpinning growth.
After an unexpectedly strong first half, Cox Automotive last Tuesday raised its sales forecast for the full year to 15 million units. That would be up almost 8% from 13.9 million in 2022.
Sales of all-electric or battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are forecast to reach nearly 500,000 units in the first six months of 2023, Cox Auto said. That would be an increase of 41% from 355,000 a year ago.
In 2023, U.S. EV sales are on track to surpass 1 million units for the first time, Cox said.
Nikola Stock, Rivian, Tesla
EV startup Rivian on Monday reported Q2 sales well above views. So did EV giant Tesla on Sunday. Nikola on Wednesday announced Q2 retail sales of 66 trucks, doubling vs. Q1.
Nikola stock jumped 4.4% Wednesday but tumbled 9.1% Thursday. RIVN stock climbed 6% on Thursday after rocketing 17.4% Monday. TSLA stock fell 2.1% Thursday after jumping 6.9% Monday.
Shares of both NKLA and RIVN remain well off highs despite recent rallies.
