General Motors there was a reported decline in sales year-over 5.5%, with 670,974 new vehicles sold during the third quarter.
GM’s all-electric vehicle sales are down, as enthusiasm for EVs wanes. Demand for EVs surged last year before the Trump administration up to $7,500 in federal incentives for consumers to buy electric vehicles. During the same period last year, GM reported record sales of electric vehicles.
Against that comparison, EVs have seen a dramatic decline this year, with the Equinox EV down 92.4% during the most recent quarter, with 1,905 vehicles sold. Blazer EV sales are down 84.4% and Hummer EV sales are down 72.9%.
The report comes after Cox Automotive said last week that new vehicle sales were stronger than expected this year and raised its 2026 forecast by about 2%, to 16.1 million units.
Sales of hybrid vehicles are expected to gain a growing share of the auto market, as rising gas prices pressure consumers.
Despite offering a broad lineup of EVs, the Detroit automaker only offers one hybrid vehicle, the Corvette. Experts expect GM’s weakness in the sector to hurt overall sales.
Hybrids helped other automakers outpace GM in third-quarter sales.
Toyota Motor reported that EV and hybrid vehicles made up more than 57% of Japanese car sales this quarter.
Toyota said sales rose 0.6% for the latest quarter, with 633,223 vehicles sold. Sales of electric vehicles, including hybrids, increased by 28.5%, with sales of 363,367 units.
That’s helped Toyota continue to narrow the gap with US sales leader GM, which is now less than 136,000 units. That compares with a one-year gap of about 335,000 units last year.
Cox Automotive said earlier this year that if those sales trends continue, Toyota could once again overtake GM as the U.S. sales leader in the coming years.
Honda Motor, which also offers several hybrids and leads the major automakers in fuel economy in the U.S., reported a 9.3% increase in U.S. third-quarter sales. Sales of the hybrid were a record of more than 106,000 units during the quarter.
“We’re getting very high demand for hybrids,” Lance Woelfer, head of American sales for Honda Motor USA, told CNBC. “We’re finding more and more consumers are finding hybrids meet their needs.”
High fuel prices, with a AAA national average of $4.41, will also hurt sales of trucks and large SUVs, a sector GM relies on. GM’s full size pickups were relatively flat.
Every car brand is down year-to-date, led by a 25% drop in Cadillac.
GM’s low-cost vehicles are a bright spot for the company as consumers face high inflation. Chevrolet Trailblazer was up 51% for the third quarter, while Buick Envista sales were up 18.4% and Chevrolet Trax was up 16.3%.
Despite the drop in sales, GM North America President Duncan Aldred remains optimistic.
“Our business is performing extremely well, the launch of our next-generation full-size pickup truck is on track, and we are making investments in new vehicles, innovative technologies, and our U.S. manufacturing footprint to drive the next phase of growth,” Aldred said in a statement.
General Motors last month announced additional details about a new V-8 engine for its pickup truck, as it tries to maintain its leadership in truck sales.