Car Sales

If we had to pick one word to describe Tesla Motors, "audacious" would be at the top of the list. Not only did founder Elon Musk decide to build a car company, which in itself is pretty gutsy. He chose to create a car company that builds nothing but electric cars -- pricey, high-end electric cars...

Plug-in car sales hit a new record in September--more than 5,500 sold in a single month--and there will likely be more records to come. But plug-in hybrids and battery electric cars are still unfamiliar to most U.S. car buyers, not to mention pricey. And there's increasing discussion that the...

Volkswagen of America has finally announced pricing for the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid, set to be the most fuel-efficient Jetta in the line-up. Jetta Hybrids will start at $24,995, with the higher-specification SE models priced at $26,990. That means the Hybrid starts at $2,005 more than the...

Home to automakers like Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive, California has been at the heart of every launch of every major plug-in car to go on sale to date. That’s because of the state’s generous incentives and support of plug-in cars, combined with tough air quality legislation...

Well, that didn't take long, did it? It's not unusual to see rare and exclusive cars pre-sold to buyers before cars are delivered--the practice has been going on for decades, every time the latest supercar hits the streets. We didn't expect to see a 2012 Tesla Model S sold so soon, though--and with...

At last, my number's been called. As the holder of reservation number P 717 for a 2012 Tesla Model S, I've waited more than three years after putting down a $5,000 deposit on the sleek, all-electric sport sedan. Since then, Tesla has kept my interest percolating with e-mail updates and promotional...

With most electric cars currently selling in no more than four-figure sums each month, a time when they're selling by the million looks an awfully long way away. In India, that time might arrive a whole lot quicker. The country's National Council for Electric Mobility (NCEM) has approved a $4.1...

At the start of each month we report sales figures on each electric car currently on sale in the U.S. Over the last few years, the highest electric sales have been a two-horse race between the 2012 Nissan Leaf and 2012 Chevrolet Volt. And for several months now, the Volt has been leading. That...

Tesla Motors may have been initially cagey about its production figures while the first few cars were being delivered, but as production gathers pace the company is revealing more details on Model S deliveries. In one of his regular Inside Tesla features on the Tesla Blog, Tesla vice president of...

If you're selling a futuristic vehicle, why not sell it using futuristic means? That's the strategy BMW is looking to take with its i3 and i8 plug-in cars, when both go on sale in Europe in a few years time. The German automaker may well have just opened a specialised showroom for the cars in...

It’s official: not only does the 2013 Ford C-Max Energi Plug-in hybrid travel further in all-electric mode than the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in hybrid, but it will cost less too. As Ford detailed last night, its first plug-in hybrid will retail for $33,750, has a combined gasoline + electric...

With continued uncertainty about gas prices, more Americans than ever are buying smaller, more efficient cars. According to Automotive News (subscription required), the demand for small, high gas mileage cars has meant that sales of compact cars -- like the Toyota Yaris, Kia Rio and Chevrolet Sonic...

There are many reasons plug-in electric car sales are still just a tiny fraction of the market. The biggest hurdle may be high price, compared to gasoline cars of the same size, right now (along with range limitations). Despite a cost-per-mile that's just a fraction of what a gasoline car costs...

We've all, at some stage, bought something we've ended up regretting. Whether an item of clothing you never really wear or a piece of technology that ended up being useless, it's frustrating to know you could have spent the money somewhere else. Buyers of new 2012 and 2013 model year Chevrolets...

At the end of every month, major automakers participate in the age-old tradition of reporting their sales figures for the previous month. Frankly, those figures aren’t normally that exciting, but this month’s sales returns from Toyota caught our attention for one simple reason. During...

Last time Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk made a bet, with journalist Dan Neil about several aspects of the Model S, he won it. That same confidence and ambition has now led him to make another--that by the late 2020s, more than half of all new vehicles being manufactured will be electric. If you're...

One of the most frequent criticisms we hear of electric and plug-in hybrid cars is that they’re just too expensive. Take the 2012 Nissan Leaf, for example. Before government and state incentives, a base-level Leaf SV will set you back $35,200. Live in the right area however, and incentives...

Earlier this year at the Chicago Auto Show, Hyundai announced the expansion of its highly-popular Elantra line by announcing two new models for 2013. Now we know that both cars -- the 2013 Elantra Coupe and 2013 Elantra GT Five-door hatchback -- will go on sale for less than $20,000. Powered by the...

Carmakers may continue to make their cars more fuel efficient year-on-year, but with those models selling in proportionally small numbers, actual gas mileage is climbing at a much slower rate. In fact, gas mileage in new cars actually fell in May, albeit by only 0.1 percent from April, to an...

Volkswagen has announced pricing details for its 2013 Volkswagen Beetle TDI, the only clean diesel vehicle in the compact coupe category. When it goes on sale in August, the Beetle TDI will retail for $23,295 in manual transmission form. With a six-speed DSG twin-clutch automatic, you'll pay $1,100...