U.S. auto sales slide in Q1; Toyota outsells GM

By Aishwarya Nair

(Reuters) – U.S. automakers on Friday documented a slump in very first-quarter domestic product sales, as the overall market was slammed by chip shortages and disruptions to source chains.

Toyota, which in 2021 upstaged GM as the leading-providing automaker in the United States, outsold the firm in the first quarter on increased need for its Lexus hybrid and electrical cars.

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors and Japan’s Mazda Motor Corp all posted a fall in over-all U.S. quarterly automobile sales. Hyundai said electrified vehicle retail gross sales surged 241% in the January-March time period from a calendar year previously.

“If fuel price ranges remain large, which is heading to continue to force people towards inexperienced engineering,” reported Randy Parker, Hyundai’s senior vice president for U.S. income.

“Skyrocketing gas rates have been leading of mind for customers in March, but the lack of inventory is what ultimately depressed new car gross sales in the first quarter,” said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds’ govt director of insights.

She explained stock problems will persist well into the relaxation of the year as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would incorporate to provide chain worries.

Jack Hollis, senior vice president of automotive operations at Toyota Motor North America, explained he does not hope a key, lengthy-term change in the U.S. automobile market place – wherever about a few-quarters of new vehicles marketed are vehicles and SUVs.

Profits of some large SUVs and vans held up. GM reported sales of its greatest and most costly SUVs, the Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade, rose for the duration of the quarter from a calendar year in the past.

Detroit-primarily based GM claimed quarterly gross sales fell 20.1% to 512,846 motor vehicles and its shares fell 1.8%.

GM reported enhanced semiconductor provides assisted manufacturing in the quarter, but it expects stock to remain reasonably reduced all through the yr thanks to higher desire. Automakers are inspired by the powerful U.S. career market place.

The company’s main economist stated in a statement that “ordinarily, a U.S. financial state this sturdy would translate into light-weight-motor vehicle income in the 17-million array.”

U.S. new-automobile income in March concluded at 1.25 million, with an annual revenue level of 13.33 million, in accordance to Wards Intelligence.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru, Joe White in Detroit and David Shepardson in Washington Extra reporting by Hyunjoo Jin Editing by Vinay Dwivedi, Nick Zieminski and David Gregorio)