US new vehicle sales continue on upward trend during second quarter

The U.S. saw an increase in auto sales during the second quarter despite higher prices for customers.

Auto sales rose 16.8% to just over 4.1 million between April and June, primarily fueled by stifled demand from nearly two years of factories worldwide suffering from a computer chip shortage.

Ivan Drury, director of insights for Edmunds.com, told the Associated Press that the trend in lower average prices and automaker discounts for most of the past year began to stall out in June as buyers paid an average of $45,978 for a vehicle, according to J.D. Power estimates.

Inventory on dealer lots was expected to be a bit over 1.2 million in June, J.D. Power showed.

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For the automakers in the second quarter, General Motors led the way with almost 690,000 sales, a 19% increase from a year ago. Toyota upped its sales 7% from last year, landing in second place with 569,000 sales.

Nissan sales jumped 33%, Subaru saw a 22% increase, sales for Hyundai and Kia both rose by 15%, and Stellantis sales increased 6% for the quarter.

Honda saw a massive increase of 45% compared to last year, but a parts shortage in 2022 left the manufacturer with poor sales numbers.

Ford will release sales on Thursday.

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Electric vehicle sales also continued on an upward trend, accounting for 7.2% of all new vehicle sales during the first half of 2023, which comes out to more than 557,000 vehicles sold. 

Last year, just over 807,000 EVs were sold – approximately 5.8% of new vehicle sales.

Tesla continued to dominate the industry in EV sales with nearly 337,000 across the U.S. since the start of the year, according to estimates from Motorintelligence.com.

General Motors was a distant second with about 34,000 sold – the Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt Electric Utility Vehicle accounted for most of the sales. Hyundai saw a big increase over last year with more than 22,000 EVs sold.

The average interest rate for a new vehicle is expected to stay around 7% throughout the summer. 

With prices predicted to remain flat and interest rates high, Drury recommended that those wanting a new car hold off on purchasing for as long as possible. If there is an immediate need, he recommended keeping the upgrades to a minimum.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.