sales

Last year's U.S. sales of plug-in electric cars were the highest on record, but now the traditional winter sales slump has set in with a bang. Electric car sales usually dip during the coldest months, and last January was the lowest sales month of the year--but this January's results apparently...

Last June, the National Automobile Dealers Association launched a publicity campaign to convince car buyers why it's in their own best interests that dealers make it illegal to buy a car from Tesla Motors. The campaign is called "Get the Facts," and it now includes a handful of animated videos...

As U.S. taxpayers start to grapple with their income-tax filings, due April 15, tens of thousands of taxpayers will benefit from a Federal income-tax credit of $2,500 to $7,500 offered to buyers of plug-in electric cars. Enacted in 2009, it was intended to spur the early sales of such cars whose...

Hyundai will cut the price of its full-cell crossover for the home market.

Plug-in electric car sales during 2014 rose above the 100,000 level, to total roughly 118,500. Last year's total represents a 27-percent gain over calendar year 2013. It's the third annual increase in full-year sales in the U.S. since modern electric cars first went on sale in December 2010; the...

BMW will continue to pursue its diesel-heavy strategy.

One of the notable features of last year's electric-car sales was the strong, and so far sustained, sales of the radical new BMW i3 electric car. The little plastic-bodied battery-electric vehicle from Munich, with its odd coach doors and its rear electric motor, sold more than 1,000 cars a month...

Many small individual factors will keep car sales down, an economist says.

Data is important. Data on the effects of changing economic factors is very important to the car industry. Which is why it's disappointing to see a Nissan executive repeating the canard that falling gas prices can hurt sales of plug-in electric cars. DON'T MISS: Plug-In Electric Car Sales Continue...

General Motors launches its Green Dealer Recognition program to encourage energy-efficient practices.

Electric-car maker Tesla Motors has shaken up the auto industry in many ways, and it continues to do so. Now, aspects of Tesla's online direct-sales model are starting to influence other companies in the car business--and their executives are saying so--even as lobbyists for franchised car...

In the U.S., diesel engines have long been established in pickup trucks. In passenger cars, however, they've remained a small part of the overall market. But diesels seem to be doing well in another segment: larger SUVs, particularly those from luxury makers, like Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz...

Connecticut may change dealer-franchise laws to allow Tesla direct sales.

With a handful of new models coming this year, Toyota's "youth brand" Scion is clearing the decks. One of the casualties is its unsuccessful iQ minicar. The little car, often mistaken for the two-seat Smart ForTwo but actually a "3 + 1-seater" (at least technically), never met its sales goals. Last...

Introduced in Germany late in 2013, and on sale in North America starting last May, the BMW i3 electric car has produced sales figures higher than some analysts expected. Now the carmaker has said that it sold more than 16,000 i3s during calendar 2014, putting the little electric minicar among the...

There's no denying that SUVs and crossover utility vehicles are popular--and getting more so, if 2014 sales charts are any indication. So the upcoming Tesla Model X all-electric seven-seat SUV should do very well when it finally hits the market this year after numerous delays. Tesla Motors CEO Elon...

The Nissan Leaf, which has long been the world's best-selling electric car, has added another laurel to its crown. With December sales of 3,102 units, total Leaf sales in the U.S. for 2014 totaled 30,200 last year--a new yearly record for any plug-in electric vehicle in the country. Since it first...

While battery-electric cars are pretty simple in concept, it's often much harder for auto marketers to explain the benefits of range-extended electrics and plug-in hybrids. Last summer, Chevrolet's chief marketing officer, Tim Mahoney, said the marketing for the new 2016 Chevy Volt would be...

California has close to half the nation's plug-in electric cars.

There's been a lot of conventional wisdom floating around lately. In this case, it's the notion that electric car sales will plummet with the arrival of vastly lower gasoline prices. We'd suggest that perhaps this is not quite as much of a foregone conclusion as many pundits think. DON'T MISS...