Sales of new vehicles held steady in February as Kia, Hyundai, Genesis, Subaru, Mazda and Honda all reported modest sales increases. But two of the largest automakers to report for the month, Toyota and Ford, delivered disappointing results. And Tesla’s numbers continued to show the impact of growing resistance to CEO Elon Musk and his role in the Trump administration. Headlight.News has more.
Electrified models, on the whole, drew strong demand in February. That included this Honda Civic Hybrid.
With growing uncertainty about the health of the American economy, February brought a mixed bag of results for the U.S. auto market.
The numbers were solid for Korean manufacturers which saw double-digit gains for the month. And at least two Japanese automakers were clearly pleased with the results.
But Toyota again lost momentum after a solid start to the new year. And, Ford, the only domestic manufacturer to report in for February, saw a sharp, nearly 9% dip.
While Tesla will wait for the end of the quarter to officially weight in, meanwhile, industry analysts cited data showing it faces a growing backlash triggered by CEO Elon Musk.
Ford sales decline despite strong demand for EVs
The new Rally Edition Ford Mustang Mach-E.
Ford sales dipped by 8.9% for the month. The drop was due mainly to the continuing retreat from sales of vehicles with internal combustion engines – demand for ICE models off 12.7% in February.
Both SUVs and passenger cars lost momentum for the month, though the big F-Series pickup, long Ford’s best-selling product – and the industry’s overall best-seller – racked up a 14.4% gain.
While gas and diesel products lost ground, sales of electrified models were solid. Hybrids gained 27.5% in February. The all-electric Mach-E gained 13% year-over-year. But the F-150 Lightning was down 14.7%.
Toyota down for the month
Electrified Toyota’s like this Prius, captured a record share of the automaker’s U.S. sales in February.
Toyota Motor North America also reported a sales decline in February, though a more modest 4.9%.
And, like Ford, Toyota gained traction in the electrified vehicle market. Hybrids and EVs accounted for a record 37% of its overall U.S. sales for the months, brand boss David Christ telling Automotive News, “Hybrids are just rocking.”
The Lexus brand did manage to gain 16% over last February’s numbers.
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Mazda Sets Record, Subaru and Honda gain momentum
Mazda’s CX-70 racked up record volume last month.
Mazda set an all-time U.S. sales record, the company reported, a year-over-year increase of 2.5%. That was driven largely by record demand for three key models: the CX-50, CX-70 and CX-90.
Honda mustered a modest sales increase of 0.2 % for February, with the 6.1% decline at its upscale Acura brand offsetting a good performance by the Honda marque. As with Toyota, Honda scored record numbers for its electrified products.
Subaru sale also increased, the 4.1% year-over-year gain marking its 19th consecutive month of year-over-year gains.
South Koreans come in hot
The Genesis Electrified GV70 generated strong demand last month.
Hyundai. Kia and Genesis all scored sales increases. Genesis did the best of the three, scoring a 20% increase on strong sales of electrified vehicles like the Electrified GV70.
Hyundai also boosted its sales by 3%. Kia, which is off to a strong start in 2025, reported a 7.2% increase on the strength of its broad lineup, which includes vehicles with internal combustion engines as well as battery electric vehicles and hybrids.
The three Korean manufacturers continue to emphasize electrified models, Kia last week revealing three new products during its annual EV Day event in Spain.
Tesla under mounting pressure
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has generated an increasing backlash to the automaker’s products.
Officially, Tesla only reports quarterly – and then doesn’t break out by region. But Cox Automotive and other tracking firms said registration data show the Texas-based EV maker faces mounting trouble triggered by CEO Elon Musk’s political shift to the right.
In Europe, third party organizations that track Tesla estimated sales fell by more than 40% in Scandanavia and France during February. In some national markets, registrations were off as much as 75%. And early indications are that Tesla faced a double-digit decline in the U.S., as well, last month.
Mounting concerns
Even Toyota struggled with mounting inventories last month.
The partial industry sales figures from February echoed S&P Mobility’s prediction of modest gains for the month.
However, S&P said market conditions remain unsettled in the face of President Trump’s threat of tariffs. As Headlight.News reported Monday, Trump is set to enact new tariffs on autos and auto parts from Canada and Mexico that could add thousands of dollars to the price of some imports – but also raise costs for most domestically produced models, as well.
Additionally. the University of Michigan has reported a sharp decline in consumer confidence in the past month.
Automakers have been struggling to offset mounting headwinds and J.D. Power reported that incentive spending rose 75% year-over-year, to an average $2,565 in February. `
Paul A. Eisenstein contributed to this report.
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