U.S. automakers dominated the luxury and domestic segments in 2022, with Tesla outrunning BMW and General Motors overtaking Toyota Motor.
According to Automotive News estimates, Tesla sales soared 44 percent to 491,000 units, powered by demand for the Model Y crossover. The Texas EV maker ended BMW’s three-year streak at the top of the luxury sales chart, besting the German automaker by nearly 159,000 units and commanding 22 percent of the segment.
GM reclaimed the title of top-selling automaker in the U.S. in 2022 by nearly 150,000 units after Toyota held that spot a year earlier. GM reported U.S. deliveries of 2.258 million vehicles, up 2.5 percent, with the Chevrolet Silverado full-size pickup its volume leader. Toyota finished at 2.1 million deliveries, down 9.6 percent.
Mercedes-Benz rallied in the fourth quarter to end the year with an uptick in sales — one of just three major automakers that did. But dealers have less than a 30-day supply of vehicles, Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Dimitris Psillakis said.
“This has improved slightly compared to the end of 2021,” he said. “Knowing the demand, we managed to supply our dealers with the right products.”
Parts shortages — in particular, microchips — dragged down sales at Ford Motor Co., Stellantis, Nissan Group and American Honda.
Semiconductor supplies are “definitely improving, but not as quickly as we anticipated,” Judy Wheeler, Nissan division’s U.S. vice president of sales and regional operations, told Automotive News. “We are running into different issues with different suppliers.”
American Honda, which has suffered 17 consecutive months of losses, posted the steepest decline last year among major automakers, at 33 percent.
“We begin 2023 with roughly double the on-hand inventory of 2022,” said Mamadou Diallo, vice president of auto sales for American Honda. But the automaker has signaled that inventory won’t return to normal levels until at least the fall.
