New vehicle sales rise in 2023, EV retail numbers set record

Auto industry experts estimate more than 15 million new vehicles will have rolled off showroom floors by the end of 2023, up from the roughly 13.75 million units sold last year.

While the auto industry didn’t face any pandemic outbreaks or microchip shortages this year, Detroit’s automakers did have to deal with a six-week union strike.

Listen: Cox Automotive analyst Michelle Krebs recaps vehicle sales in 2023

But Cox Automotive executive analyst Michelle Krebs says that did not have a big impact on sales since Ford, Stellantis and General Motors built up inventory before the UAW work stoppage to limit the damage.

“The Detroit Three cut back on fleet sales so that they’d have vehicles at the dealership, and we expect they’ll be making up those fleet sales later,” states Krebs.

EV sales saw a record year in 2023, moving about one million units. Krebs expects electrified retail to continue trending up next year.

“We anticipate next year will be another record year of over a million EV sales,” Krebs predicts. “We think it will represent over 10% of the overall market, but we still anticipate that the production will exceed demand.”

With so many car companies building electric vehicles, Krebs says there are currently more inventory available to be sold than there are interested buyers.

The current surplus has led some manufacturers to scale back EV production. Earlier this month, Ford announced it will cut its 2024 electric F-150 production number in half at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn.