The Automakers That Completely Dropped The Ball On End Of US EV Tax Credit

Q3 US electric vehicle sales data reveals a significant divergence in automaker performance; while brands like Audi (+232%), Volkswagen (+231%), and Hyundai (+103%) reported substantial year-over-year growth, several others, including Nissan (-61%), Lexus (-43%), and BMW (-33%), experienced notable sales declines. This indicates a varied ability among manufacturers to capitalize on the expanding EV market, suggesting strategic execution disparities within the sector.

Analysis

The Automakers That Completely Dropped The Ball On End Of US EV Tax Credit Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe. I spent much of the week writing about how much EV sales growth several automakers scored in the 3rd quarter in the US. As a short recap, year over year: - Audi EV sales grew 232% - Volkswagen EV sales grew 231% - Cadillac EV sales grew 146% - Hyundai EV sales grew 103% - Chevrolet EV sales grew 86% - GMC EV sales grew 84% - Honda EV sales grew 76% - Rivian sales grew 32% - Ford Mustang Mach-E grew 51%. That all looks amazing, but there were also several disappointing stories. There were auto companies that didn’t have huge EV sales growth, or even saw their EV sales decline year over year! I don’t know what these companies were doing or what their executives were thinking to miss out on the opportunity, but there were also several of them. I’m not going to spend as much time on these companies — they don’t deserve their own articles — but here’s a rundown of their results (comparing Q3 2025 to Q3 2024): - The Acura ZDX declined 40%, from 2,647 sales to 1,580 sales. - The BMW iX declined 33%, from to 4,679 sales to 3,136 sales. - The Lexus RZ declined 43%, from 2,742 sales to 1,560 sales. - Nissan EVs (the ARIYA plus the LEAF) declined 61%, from 10,066 sales to 3,934 sales. - The Subaru Solterra declined 7.5%, from 3,752 sales to 3,471 sales. - The Toyota BZ4X declined 27%, from 4,109 sales to 3,015 sales. Not inspiring stuff there. There are also companies that haven’t reported their results, so we have to wait a bit longer to see how they did. Anyway, if you thought every automaker saw big EV sales growth due to all the positive headlines we wrote about different automakers, what’s clear is there are still plenty of laggards and certain companies really failed to take advantage of the moment for one reason or another. Sign up for CleanTechnica's Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott's in-depth analyses and high level summaries, sign up for our daily newsletter, and follow us on Google News! Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here. Sign up for our daily newsletter for 15 new cleantech stories a day. Or sign up for our weekly one on top stories of the week if daily is too frequent. CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here. CleanTechnica's Comment Policy Third-quarter US electric vehicle sales data reveals a significant market bifurcation, underscoring that brand-specific execution is a more critical performance driver than general sector growth. While some automakers posted substantial year-over-year gains—such as Audi (+232%), Volkswagen (+231%), Ford's Mustang Mach-E (+51%), and Honda (HMC, +76%)—a notable group of laggards experienced sharp declines. This divergence is highlighted by the struggles of major Japanese brands, with Nissan's EV sales plummeting 61%, Toyota's (TM) BZ4X dropping 27%, and its Lexus RZ model falling 43%. The data indicates that merely participating in the EV market is insufficient for success; factors like product appeal, pricing strategy, and supply chain effectiveness are creating a clear divide between winners and losers. The overall mildly negative sentiment and cautious tone of the report are driven by these high-profile failures, which temper the positive results from a handful of high-growth players and suggest that investment in the sector requires a highly selective, fundamentals-driven approach.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Given the stark divergence in sales performance, investors should pivot from a broad-based EV sector strategy to a stock-specific approach, emphasizing companies with demonstrated product traction and execution.
• The strong growth reported by Ford (F), Honda (HMC), and Rivian (RIVN) validates their current strategies and warrants closer examination of their production outlooks and margin potential.
• The significant sales declines for models from Toyota (TM) and Nissan signal potential market share erosion and competitive challenges, meriting a cautious stance and a review of their respective EV transition plans.
• Monitor high-frequency sales data as a primary indicator to distinguish between market leaders and laggards, as company-specific results are clearly decoupling from a monolithic EV growth narrative.