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Analysts project 2024 sales to near 16 million vehicles

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GM maintains sales crown with 2.7 million vehicles sold

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Stellantis ( STLA ) and Tesla face challenges

(Adds sales results from automakers throughout)

By Nora Eckert

DETROIT, Jan 3 (Reuters) - U.S. new-car sales in 2024

continued to rise from their pandemic lows, bolstered by

replenished inventories, higher incentives and surging demand

for hybrid vehicles, automakers reported on Friday.

Sales are expected to near 16 million vehicles, the highest

level since 2019, with General Motors ( GM ) defending its 2023

sales crown. Automakers are projecting strong results to

continue into 2025, although President-elect Donald Trump's

proposed automotive policies, such as removing tax credits for

EVs, present a wild card.

"We're carrying significant momentum into 2025," Rory

Harvey, GM's head of global markets, said in a release. The

Detroit automaker sold 2.7 million vehicles last year, the

company said on Friday, up 4.3% from 2023.

Most automakers recorded solid sales results last year, as

they adjusted to slowing demand for EVs and relied on their core

business of gasoline-powered trucks and SUVs, while some

capitalized on soaring consumer interest in hybrid vehicles.

'HYBRIDS, WE'RE SOLD OUT'

Toyota notched a 3.7% sales gain year-over-year in the U.S.,

boosted by steady increases of reliable smaller vehicles such as

the Camry and RAV4 SUV, as well as significant gains for hybrid

vehicles. Reuters reported last year that the automaker is

potentially converting all of its lineup into hybrid-only

models.

"For hybrids, we're sold out - customers want them, we can't

get enough of them," said David Christ, head of sales and

marketing for Toyota in North America. "Battery electric

vehicles, even with the huge incentives we're spending and the

federal government's incentives, are just not as in demand."

Ford Motor ( F ) also benefited from an increase in hybrid

sales, which helped the automaker's total vehicle sales rise

4.2% in 2024. The Dearborn, Michigan, company sold roughly

double the number of hybrids compared with its EVs, with 187,426

hybrids sold and 97,865 EVs.

Automakers have axed or changed lofty EV plans laid out when

demand seemed much stronger than it turned out to be, but they

are still aiming to attract new EV buyers.

Ford said on Friday that in an effort to support EV sales,

which were up 34.8% for the automaker in 2024, it would extend a

program where EV buyers receive free chargers and installation

at home through the end of March.

U.S. sales of electric vehicles are expected to approach 1.3

million, or about 8% of all new vehicles purchased, Cox

Automotive said. Buyers' willingness to go electric crept up

slightly from 2023, when U.S. drivers bought 1.2 million EVs,

comprising 7.6% of all sales, Cox said.

The Trump administration's plans would likely affect auto

sales in 2025 and beyond, if the incoming president makes good

on plans to roll back President Joe Biden's EV policies,

including a $7,500 consumer tax credit on some EVs, as well as

increase tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada.

"If you take true demand for the car and you eliminate the

$7,500 benefit ... it's really going to change who wants them

and how they buy them. So we're preparing for that," Toyota's

Christ said.

STELLANTIS AND TESLA LAG

Jeep maker Stellantis ( STLA ) and electric vehicle giant

Tesla were the outliers last year, recording slipping

sales compared with 2023.

Stellantis ( STLA ) had a particularly rocky 2024, with sales of its

popular Ram, Jeep and Dodge brands all decreasing, third-quarter

company reports show. The French-Italian automaker grappled with

fallout from an aggressive pricing strategy that ultimately led

to the abrupt departure of former CEO Carlos Tavares.

Tesla has faced slowing sales as its lineup grows stale and

competition in China intensifies, eating in to an important

market for the company run by Elon Musk. The EV giant reported a

rare decrease in yearly deliveries on Thursday.