USA Q3 2025: EVs push market up, Stellantis back in positive, Chevrolet Equinox surges

Chevrolet Equinox sales are up 110.9% year-on-year over Q3.

The ending on Sept 30 of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit has pushed the U.S. new light vehicle market up 5.6% over Q3 to 4,122,000 units, leading to a year-to-date tally up 4.3% to 12,273,000. EV sales are estimated to gain 29.6% to 438,000 or 10.6% share vs. 8.6% over Q3 2024. In September, J.D. Power and GlobalData project sales would rise 4.8%. Car prices haven’t yet reflected the new tariffs, and Cox Automotive expect they will rise 4 to 8% by September 2026 as carmakers slowly transfer the additional cost to consumers. For now, the average new vehicle retail transaction price in September is $45,795, up 2.9% on September 2024. The SAAR (seasonally adjusted annualised rate of sales) is estimated to come in at 16.2 million in September, down from 16.36 million in August but up from 16.05 million in September 2024. As a reminder, U.S. sales topped 17 million units pre-pandemic, from 2015 to 2019. 

The Top four largest OEMs all beat the market. General Motors is up 7.9%, Toyota Motor up 15.9%, Ford Motor up 8.5% and Hyundai-Kia up 12%. American Honda disappoints at -2% whereas Stellantis is back in positive at +6.4%. The BMW Group surges 24.8%. Brand-wise, Toyota (+16.4%) dominates ahead of Ford (+9.4%) and Chevrolet (+8.7%). Hyundai (+13.3%), Kia (+11.1%) and Jeep (+10.8%) shine with double-digit gains while further down Chrysler (+44.5%), Cadillac (+25%) and BMW (+24%) stand out.

The Ford F-Series (+4.7%) passes the 200,000 sales milestone to easily keep the lead in the models charts above the Chevrolet Silverado (+9.6%) and Toyota RAV4 (+16.3%) both in great shape. The Chevrolet Equinox (+110.9%) soars to 4th place vs. #7 year-to-date and #11 over the Full Year 2024. The Honda CR-V (-6.9%) is knocked down to 5th position, distancing the GMC Sierra (+10.2%), Ram Pickup (-1.2%) and Tesla Model Y (-18.1%). Excellent scores also by the Ford Explorer (+33.3%) and Toyota Tacoma (+28.3%).

Previous month: USA August 2025: EVs at record 12% share, Kia at all-time high

One year ago: USA Q3 2024: Market down -2.1%, Chevrolet Trax in Top 10

Full Q3 2025 Top 15 OEMs, Top 46 All brands and Top 315 All models below.