USA Vehicles Market hit 15.83 million sales in 2024, up 2.7%. Toyota narrowly topped Ford to secure top spot, while Honda posted the strongest gains in both the Top 10 brands and EV rankings.
Market Trend and Outlook
Growth forecasts for the United States in 2024 remain robust at 2.8%, slowing slightly to 2.4% in 2025 and 2.1% in 2026. Despite earlier rate hikes, consumption is projected to soften as savings dwindle and immigration normalizes, though it will remain steady due to solid real wage gains. Business investment will expand moderately, supported by industrial policies but tempered by refinancing at higher rates. Inflation has eased significantly, with core inflation nearing the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, creating room for further monetary policy easing into 2026.
Large budget deficits, exceeding 7.5% of GDP, persist due to structural mismatches between spending and tax revenues, alongside pressures from aging demographics. Labour productivity is improving, partly offsetting tight labour markets, while recent immigration surges have bolstered supply. Risks to growth include potential inflationary persistence, trade tensions, or energy price shocks. On the upside, productivity gains and deregulation could fuel stronger-than-expected growth. Fiscal consolidation, reforms to the visa system, and re-engaging higher education students are critical for addressing structural challenges and sustaining long-term economic stability.
EV sales in the U.S. rose 2.6% in 2024, though growth has leveled off. Adoption remained steady, backed by Biden administration’s clean transportation policies and EV charging expansion. Still, future growth hinges on the next president’s stance on incentives and infrastructure.
Tesla held its EV dominance despite a 6.4% volume drop. Honda surged into 6th with a standout climb, while Cadillac and Toyota broke into the Top 10 with double-digit growth.
In line with broader economic forecasts, The U.S. light vehicle market grew 2.7% in 2024, with 15.83 million registrations. Growth picked up in Q4, capped by December’s 12.8% surge in sales.
Looking at cumulative data up to December 2024 brand-wise, Toyota -up 1 spot- secured leadership with 1,98 million sales (+5.1%), followed by Ford -down 1 spot- with 1,97 million registrations (+3.4%) and Chevrolet in 3rd with 1,74 million units sold (+2.2%).
Honda ranked 4th with 1,29 million sales (+11.7%), in front of Nissan in 5th with 860,018 sales (+3.1%), Hyundai at 823,492 (+3.4%), Kia with 793,578 sales (+1.4%) and GMC -up 2 spot- in 8th with 612,397 new registrations (+8.6%).
Subaru into 9th with 611,025 sales (-3.3%) and Jeep -down 2 spots- closed the top 10 with 587,722 units sold (-8.3%).
Looking at the best-selling models, reported in the dedicated article, the Ford F-Series was still the best seller, growing 1.8% decrease in year-on-year volume, followed by the Chevrolet Silverado, down 0.9%.
Medium-Term Market Trend
After the fall reported as consequence of 2008 economic crisis, when the market dropped from near 18 to 10 million annual volumes, since the 2010 the market recovered supported by a quite positive economic cycle.
Starting at 11.5 million in 2010, the American light vehicles market rose for 6 consecutive years, ending 2016 with a peak of 17.6 million sales. From 2017 to 2019 the market bounced around the low 17 million mark.
The arrival of the pandemic in 2020 made many manufacturers and distributors close down, causing a big problem in the automobile industry, with sales in the US falling 13.9% to 14.7 million by the end of the year.
While in 2021 a shy recovery was reported (+4.3%) the market kept suffering in 2022 as all manufacturers are deeply involved in the electrification evolution, with huge government incentives supporting EVs and Tesla gaining market share and revolutionizing the traditional and consolidated approach to the market. And the 2022 market level was the lowest in a decade.
In 2023 the vehicle market was able to recover, reporting 15.36 million sales (+12.4%) sustained by strong incentives to EVs models and economic growth.
Tables with sales figures
In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Groups, and top 10 Models.
