US Q2 Light-Vehicle Sales Edge Up 0.5% to 4.22 Million as H1 Slips 2.8%
Updated
Updated · WOLF STREET · Jul 6
US Q2 Light-Vehicle Sales Edge Up 0.5% to 4.22 Million as H1 Slips 2.8%
2 articles · Updated · WOLF STREET · Jul 6
Summary
4.22 million new light vehicles were sold in the US in Q2, up 0.5% from a year earlier after a 6.3% drop in Q1, while first-half sales remained down 2.8%.
2025 tariff front-running distorted the comparison: March and April sales had spiked on fears prices would jump, then fell back when that did not happen.
Ford and GM lost ground in Q2, with deliveries down 10.3% and 4.2%, while Hyundai-Kia posted a record quarter at 468,892 vehicles, up 2.8%; Toyota also rose 1.1%.
Stellantis and Nissan rebounded 5.9% and 10.2%, but from depressed levels, underscoring a zero-sum market where share gains by one automaker come at others' expense.
Q2 volume still trailed many quarters from past decades, and the report estimates full-year 2026 sales will finish slightly below 2025, extending a long stagnation in US auto demand.