Toyota Was Right? Japanese Automaker Trails GM In America — But Hybrid Strategy Gives It Edge In EV War

General Motors GM maintained its position as the best-selling automaker in the U.S. at the end of the first quarter, edging out its Japanese competitor, Toyota Motor‘s TM regional unit. This comes despite an overall sales decline for GM and Toyota’s rising popularity in hybrid vehicles.

GM Leads in Overall Sales, Trails in Electrification

GM reported total sales of 594,233 vehicles in the U.S. for the first quarter, outselling Toyota’s 565,098 units. However, the picture is different in the electrification race. Toyota significantly outpaced GM, selling 206,850 electrified vehicles (hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and battery-electric) in the quarter. This dwarfs GM’s sales of just 16,425 EVs during the same period.

Toyota’s dominance stems largely from its robust hybrid offerings. The company sold 57,875 RAV4 Hybrids, 16,072 Sienna Hybrids, and 15,589 Corolla Hybrids in the first quarter alone. Notably, GM currently lacks any hybrid options in its North American lineup.

GM’s Electric Future & Toyota’s Hybrid Focus

While GM CEO Mary Barra reaffirmed the company’s vision of an all-electric lineup by 2035, she also acknowledged plans to introduce plug-in hybrid technology in select North American vehicles in the coming years. For now, however, GM remains focused on pure EVs in 2024.

Toyota, along with other Asian automakers like Hyundai and Honda, continues to dominate the U.S. hybrid market. 

Toyota believes the market will rely on a mix of fuel options rather than a complete shift to EVs. In a recent interview, Toyota Motor North America CEO Ted Ogawa projected that battery electric vehicles will only account for around 30% of the U.S. market by 2030.

Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

Read More: GM’s Total EV Sales In Q1 Can’t Even Match Tesla’s High-End Deliveries

Image via Shutterstock