End Of Tax Credit Fuels U.S. Electric Vehicle Sales Surge

General Motors and Ford reported solid third-quarter U.S. sales increases Wednesday, due partly to a bounce in electric vehicle sales ahead of the expiration of a key tax credit.

GM said its EV sales more than doubled during the quarter compared with a year ago, while Ford's lineup of EVs and hybrids jumped nearly 20 percent. Both Detroit companies also pointed to higher sales of popular internal-combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

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U.S. car sales have held better than some observers expected after President Donald Trump's deluge of tariff announcements, in part because the industry has largely absorbed the cost hit thus far.

A forecast from Edmunds released last week estimated the third quarter was the strongest since 2019. GM sales rose 7.7 percent to 710,347, while Ford's sales increased 8.2 percent to 545,522.

"We have the best lineup of ICE and EV vehicles we've ever had, and our brands have grown market share with consistently strong pricing, low incentives and inventory," said Duncan Aldred, GM senior VP and president of North America.

Andrew Frick, president of Ford's Blue and Model e, pointed to "strong performance in gas, hybrid, and electrified powertrains."

The surge in EV sales came ahead of the phaseout of a federal tax incentive of up to $7,500 per vehicle enacted with Trump's sweeping tax package that extended many other corporate tax cuts.

Ahead of the tax credit expiration, consumers purchased 410,000 EVs in the third quarter, the most ever and about a 21-percent year-over-year increase, according to estimates from Cox Automotive.

But even with the increases in their sales, EVs comprised under 10 percent of GM's vehicles sold during the quarter and only about 16 percent of Ford's overall sales.

Both companies reported gains in key sport utility vehicles and pickup truck models such as the Chevrolet Silverado, the Chevrolet Equinox, the Ford F-series and Ford Expedition.

Automakers have generally refrained from passing on higher costs to consumers thus far, in part because of their inventory of vehicles that pre-date the tariffs. But experts expect more price hikes over the next year, with Cox Automotive projecting a range of four to eight percent on a recent conference call.