Rivian, Kia, and Mercedes see huge jump in new car registrations – a sign of what’s to come?

S&P Global Mobility released its latest round of US data on new EV registrations for November 2023, and some surprising new trends are popping up – with very modest gains by Tesla and Ford, compared to bigger moves from smaller EV players Rivian and Kia, as well as luxury EVs from Mercedes and BMW.

EV leader Tesla – which took the number-one spot for the entire year – grew registrations by 8.6% in November 2023 compared to the same month a year prior, reports Automotive News. Tesla’s new registrations were at 42,737 for a 47.7% share of the EV segment that month. In November 2022, Tesla had a 57.1% share, S&P Global said, so a modest dip.

For Ford, new EV registrations rose 21% in November 2023 to 7,787, putting it in the number-two slot overall for the year, behind Tesla, the report said.

Chevrolet EV registrations dropped 0.2% year over year to 4,172 for a 4.7% share for the month.

Tesla Model Y had 342,512 registrations from January to November 2023, seeing a 77% jump from the year prior. For the Model 3, it had 194,087 registrations for Jan.-Nov. 2023, with a 12% jump.

The Chevy Bolt had 59,371 registrations in that same time period, for a 92% increase, and Ford’s Mustang Mach-E had 34,314 registrations for a 92% increase.

All together, Cox Automotive estimates that “a record” 1.2 million EVs were sold in the country in 2023, for a 7.6% share of the light-vehicle market, up from 5.9% in 2022, Automotive News reports. For 2024, Cox says it expects the EV share to jump to 10%.

American EV maker Rivian saw 6,512 new registrations in November for a huge 146% gain compared to November 2022, with the brand capturing 7.3% of the EV segment that month.

Korea’s Kia doubled its EV registrations to 2,2278 for a 2.5% share in November. Meanwhile, sister brand Hyundai saw a gain of 3,678 for a 4.1% market share.

For the German brands, BMW also “overperformed” in the EV segment with a 42% increase in new-vehicle registrations in November to 4,046 vehicles, for a 4.5% share. Mercedes-Benz, for its part, saw a 160% rise in new-vehicle registrations in November with 3,688 vehicles, for a 4.1% share of the EV segment.

Electrek’s Take

The next few quarters should be exciting to watch, but analysts do say that anything could happen, so be prepared. The automobile industry is a slow-moving beast. Still, Germany luxury brands have been losing market share to Tesla over the past five years, but this new data suggests the tide may be changing, with higher-end EV buyers looking for other options. Also Tesla relied heavily on price cuts last year – as did other brands of course – to maintain growth, but Tesla could likely see smaller gains from that tactic this year. Ford, too, is slashing its EV production this year, which could cut into its sales, and Chevrolet is discontinuing its most popular EV, the Bolt, until 2025. So this could make more room for smaller EV players like Rivian and Kia, which have been riding a record-breaking high in new car registrations. That’s thanks to big sales from the Rivian R1S SUV and the Kia EV6.

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