Jan 4 (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N) on Wednesday posted a 2.5% rise in U.S. new car sales in 2022, outselling Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), helped by an easing of stock shortages and robust demand for its vehicles and vans.
GM, which misplaced the spot because the top U.S. automaker on the finish of 2021 for the primary time since 1931, stated its annual sales rose to 2,274,088 autos final 12 months, beating Toyota’s annual sales of two,108,458 models in a carefully watched race.
Inventory shortages, attributable to surging materials prices and chronic chip scarcity, spilled into 2022, hobbling manufacturing at many automakers, particularly Asian manufacturers, preserving automotive and truck costs elevated.
Toyota has been amongst these hit acutely, forcing the automaker to chop its full-year manufacturing goal in November. Sales of its SUVs, a key phase, fell 8.6% in 2022, knowledge on Wednesday confirmed.
Hyundai Motor America (005380.KS) stated on Wednesday it had offered 724,265 autos final 12 months, down 2%.
Industry-wide final 12 months’s U.S. auto sales are forecast to be about 13.9 million models, down 8% from 2021 and 20% from the height in 2016, in response to trade marketing consultant Cox Automotive.
Some trade observers are additionally fretting that worth hikes by automakers to blunt inflationary pressures and rising rates of interest will take a toll on new car sales within the new 12 months.
“We expect 2023 to carry a high level of risk and uncertainty as several markets could be dealing with a recession,” stated Jeff Schuster, president of world forecasts at LMC Automotive.
Automakers might want to start incentivising consumers, a development that was briefly paused through the pandemic as producers and sellers struggled to meet demand, automotive market TrueCar stated.
Reporting by Aishwarya Nair and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar
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