The first quarter of 2023 came in with a bang versus the first quarter of 2022. Of course, you must consider that a year ago the chip shortage was at its height.
When the smoke cleared earlier this week, sales for Q1 were up 8.4% on total sales of 3,458,016 new vehicles. With more microchips available, some car companies released fleet vehicles, which they had avoided to get more vehicles into the hands of its retailers.
On the electric vehicle side, General Motors sold 20,670 EVs, almost doubling Fords 10,866 electric sales. Ford lost five weeks of the F-150 Lightning production due to a fire concern. Recently, Ford raised the base price of the Lightning to $59,974, exactly $20,000 more than the initial starting price when the Lightning was introduced.
Here are the winners and losers for the first quarter of 2023 and how that compares to the same period in 2022:
Note: Tesla, Polestar, and Rivian only report production, not actual sales.
Mercedes-Benz and Porsche had not reported sales as of press time.
| Q1 2023 | vs Q1 2022 | |
| 1. Ford | 452,927 | 11% |
| 2. Toyota | 401,306 | 11% |
| 3. Chevrolet | 394,120 | 16% |
| 4. Honda | 251,042 | 5% |
| 5. Nissan | 220,061 | 16% |
| 6. Hyundai | 184,449 | 16% |
| 7. Kia | 184,136 | 22% |
| 8. Jeep | 154,203 | 20% |
| 9. Subaru | 143,376 | 8% |
| 10. GMC |
130,608 |
8% |
| 11. RAM |
128,722 |
7% |
| 12. Mazda | 88,384 | 7% |
| 13. BMW | 81,877 | 11% |
| 14. Lexus | 68,251 | 6% |
| 15. VW |
67,853 |
4% |
| 16. Audi | 52,763 | 49% |
| 17. Dodge |
50,975 |
24% |
| 18. Buick |
38,138 |
99% |
| 19. Cadillac | 36,321 | 29% |
| 20. Acura | 33,465 | 19% |
| 21. Chrysler | 31,899 | 10% |
| 22. Mitsubishi | 20,938 | 21% |
| 23. Lincoln | 18,934 | 1% |
| 24. INFINITI | 15,757 | 40% |
| 25. Genesis | 13,769 | 18% |
| 26. MINI | 7,284 | 6% |
| 27. Alfa Romeo | 2,390 | 27% |
| 28. Maserati | 2,100 | 4% |
| 29. Bentley | 1,075 | 13% |
| 30. Lucid | 790 | 295% |
| 31. Rolls-Royce | 530 | 26% |
| 32. McLaren | 165 | 21% |
| 33. Fiat | 138 | 59% |
| 32. Karma | 130 | 420% |
Photo Credit: Andy Dean Photography/Shutterstock.com.