US Car Sales Get Year-End Boost From Trump’s Threat to End EV Tax Credits

Overall 2024 US car sales rise to an estimated 15.9 million
Surge not expected to last into 2025 with policy changes

A customer looks at the trunk of a vehicle at a Tesla store in Colma, California.Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

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By Gabrielle Coppola, David Welch, and Keith Naughton

January 3, 2025 at 10:00 AM UTC

Updated on

January 3, 2025 at 9:31 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The threat by President-elect Donald Trump to end tax credits for electric vehicles helped lift sales in the fourth quarter, giving US automakers a much-needed boost after a disappointing year.

At General Motors Co., EV sales more than doubled to almost 44,000 in the quarter. Ford Motor Co. saw a 16% jump in the category to about 30,000 vehicles. Overall EV sales gained 12%, pushing the full-year total to a record 1.3 million, according to forecasts from researcher Cox Automotive.