Some US Carmakers Crush It On Q1 EV Sales But Not Tesla

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Last Updated on: 2nd April 2025, 03:18 am

The tariff-obsessed Commander-in-Chief who occupies the White House may yet torpedo the entire US auto industry with his avoidable trade wars, but that remains to be seen. In the meantime, EV sales in the US continued to increase during the first three months of this year. Some analysts surmise that buyers are rushing to lock in prices before tariffs take effect or the federal EV tax credit gets the axe, or both. Time, and Q2 sales, will tell.

The Q1 growth track is all the more impressive considering Trump’s abrupt pullback on EV-supporting federal programs, including a freeze on the $5 billion NEVI funding pot for new public fast charging stations.

94% Increase In EV Sales For GM

First up is General Motors, which really crushed it on Q1 EV sales in the US at a 94% increase, outpacing the company’s 17% overall US sales growth by a mile.

“We expect GM to be again the #2 seller electric vehicles in the U.S. with sales up 94% in the quarter,” GM reported on Tuesday, referring obliquely and somewhat snarkily to Tesla as the #1 EV seller. GM does not sell plugin hybrid EVs in the US (yet), so that 94% represents all-electric models.

Chevrolet, in particular, earned a special shoutout from GM. “Chevy is the fastest growing EV brand in the U.S., led by Equinox EV and Blazer EV,” the company enthused.

“Cadillac retail sales were up 21%, with EVs up 37%,” GM also noted.

GMC Hummer EV sales were up 109%, and the new Sierra EV had 1,249 sales (compared to zero a year ago).

If GM continues to increase the proportion of EVs in its lineup, its brand popularity should help support a continued increase in EV sales. “For the quarter, GM led the U.S. automotive industry in total, retail, and fleet sales. GM continues to be the market leader in full-size pickups and SUVs,” GM concluded, referencing its full lineup of gas, diesel, hybrid, and BEV vehicles.

“We’re the industry leader in trucks and affordable small SUVs, Cadillac is growing significantly in luxury, and we have the broadest portfolio of EVs in the industry,” chipped in GM executive VP and president of global markets Rory Harvey.

Ford Celebrates EV Sales Growth, Too

The Ford Motor Company also painted a rosy picture for EV sales in Q1, racking up a “record start” for hybrids (up 33%) and BEVs (up 12%).

“In the first quarter, Ford’s electrified vehicles represented 15% of total sales — up 3 percentage points over the same period last year,” Ford noted.

“Mustang Mach-E is off to a record start on sales of 11,607 electric SUVs, despite limited inventory,” the company added. “The 2025 model year Mustang Mach-E SUVs are now in transit and will make their way to dealer lots in April.”

How About Some Of Those Other US Automakers?

Moving along to other leading automakers, Stellantis remains a work in progress. “Stellantis now has three fully-electric vehicles in its lineup,” Detroit News reported on April 1, noting that the company’s Q1 EV sales consisted mainly of 2,505 units of the Jeep Wagoneer S and 1,947 of the electric Dodge Charger Daytona, both of which launched this year. The Fiat 500e launched in 2024 and racked up 448 units in Q1 of this year.

Polestar is another work in progress. I keep an eye out for new EVs in my Type A personality suburban neck of the woods, and I finally saw my first ever Polestar today. That was just three days after I spotted one in New York City. So, two in one week. That could mean something, or nothing. If you have any ideas, drop a note in the comment thread.

If prospects look better for Rivian, that’s partly because — like Ford and GM — the company is leaning on the fleet electrification movement to boost EV sales. Rivian was supplying electric vans to Amazon under a longstanding exclusive agreement which has finally concluded. In February, the company opened its doors to other electric fleets, so let’s see what happens there.

Then there’s the US-based, Saudi Arabia-backed startup Lucid Motors, which has been going mano-a-mano against Tesla for a slice of the luxury EV market. The company turned in a respectable sales performance last year for the Lucid Air sedan, and it has great expectations for its newly launched Lucid Gravity SUV this year.

Meanwhile, Tesla EV Sales Are Going … To Saudi Arabia

Lucid launched its Arizona factory in 2021 and soon began laying plans for a sister factory in Saudi Arabia, which is now up and running. In an interesting coincidence, Tesla is reportedly going to sell its EVs in Saudi Arabia for the first time since 2018, beginning with a showcase event later this month.

If that sounds like a losing proposition for Tesla, well, maybe. EV sales in Saudi Arabia have been slow to take off for obvious reasons, but the Kingdom has established a new EV sales goal just in time to support its new Lucid factory. Lucid is aiming for an eventual output of 155,000 vehicles, for buyers overseas as well as in Saudi Arabia.

Lucid is the first automaker to set up a factory in Saudi Arabia. It has been making the most of the opportunity, portraying the new facility as a job-creating hometown hero. Tesla will have to work hard to avoid coming off like a carpetbagger. Just saying.

So, Where Will Tesla Sales Go?

Tesla’s Q1 report is coming soon, and EV sales trackers are already drawing the curtains of doom around it, for good reason. Tesla sales have been falling in key markets alongside CEO Elon Musk’s rising interest — some would say meddling — in politics, as he most capably demonstrated by personally and loudly insinuating himself into race for Wisconsin’s State Supreme Court this week, where voters were to decide who should occupy an empty seat on the bench.

Decide they did. The race was called about an hour after the polls closed on the evening of April 1. With less than 50% of votes counted, Musk’s favorite, Republican Brad Schimel, was on the losing side at 43%. The winner, Democrat Susan Crawford, clocked in at 56%.

The final spread could be smaller or larger than 13% once all the votes are counted, but victory was already out of Schimel’s grasp early on.

Notably, Trump squeezed out his November 5, 2024, win in Wisconsin by a margin of just under 1%. That was back when Musk’s political profile was not particularly front of mind among the voting public.

It’s a different story now that Trump has enabled Musk and his “DOGE” team to take the federal government brick by brick, throwing tens of thousands of people out of their jobs and disrupting key programs.

Fast forward to April 1, 2025, and Wisconsin voters are clearly not buying what Musk is selling. That does not bode well for his ability to sell cars.

Update: As of 11:00 p.m. ET with an estimated 80% of votes counted, Susan Crawford leads 54.9% to 45.1%.