High gasoline prices are beginning to push Americans away from the full-size pickups and sport utility vehicles that generate the most profits for automakers.
Big pickups like the Chevrolet Silverado are still selling well in the United States, but buyers are gravitating to the smaller versions of such trucks. And sales of hybrid cars and midsize vehicles are growing.
General Motors said Thursday that sales of the Silverado, the company’s flagship truck, was up 3 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier. But the growth came from a light-duty version of the truck. Sales of heavy-duty Silverados slumped. So did sales of the Suburban, a three-row sport utility vehicle, contributing to a 6 percent decline for all G.M. vehicles. Buyers gravitated to smaller, less expensive models like the Chevrolets Trailblazer and Trax.
That story was similar at Stellantis, the parent company of Ram and Jeep. Sales of light-duty Ram pickups rose 73 percent while sales of heavy duty trucks fell 6 percent, the company said. A newly introduced hybrid Jeep Cherokee also sold well.
It is too early to declare that the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, the reason fuel prices have surged, is prompting Americans to fall out of love with big trucks and sport utility vehicles. Relationships that deep do not end overnight.
“Midsize is in, but it doesn’t mean we’re completely losing the full size S.U.V.s,” said Erin Keating, executive analyst at Cox Automotive. Many Americans are reacting to higher fuel prices by driving less or cutting back on other purchases, rather than choosing smaller vehicles, she added.
But there is a clear pattern: Dealers are moving fewer humongous pickups and selling more fuel-efficient hybrids, which have engines augmented by batteries and electric motors. Cox estimates full-size truck sales fell 2 percent in the quarter for all brands, and sales of large S.U.V.s fell 6 percent. Sales of midsize trucks and S.U.V.s grew, according to Cox.
If these trends persist or deepen, it could hurt automakers in the United States, which generally offer fewer hybrids and smaller cars than Asian manufacturers like Toyota, Hyundai and Honda.
American manufacturers dominate the market for big trucks. The Ford F-150 pickup is the best selling U.S. vehicle of any kind. For many Americans, the epitome of luxury is not a Mercedes-Benz or a BMW saloon. It is a $79,000 F-150 Raptor with heated seats and Bang & Olufsen speakers.
U.S. automakers have been offering fewer and fewer smaller cars, leaving them with little to fall back on if the market continues to change. Ford, which has not yet reported sales for the quarter, this year stopped making the Escape, a small sport utility vehicle.
“As you become more dependent on a certain kind of car, you’re going to be at the mercy of the market,” said Michael Lenox, a professor of business at the University of Virginia. “You’re exposed if you don’t have the alternatives that people are interested in.”
Asian manufacturers appear to be benefiting from current shifts in the market. Nissan said Thursday that sales of the Frontier, a midsize pickup, soared 44 percent in the quarter. That helped the Japanese company, which has struggled in recent years, to lift overall sales by 8 percent in the quarter.
Tiago Castro, Nissan’s senior vice president for U.S. marketing and sales, attributed the increase in sales of Frontier trucks to better advertising. But he said gasoline prices also played a role.
Fuel-efficiency will be a selling point, he said, when Nissan soon starts offering a hybrid version of its Rogue S.U.V.
“Customers are looking for more efficient vehicles, but without compromising their style of life,” Mr. Castro said in an interview. “And hybrid provides that.”
Increases in gasoline prices have not yet led to a surge in demand for electric vehicles in the United States. Tesla said Friday that its global deliveries fell to 486,500 from July to September compared with 497,000 in the same period last year. Tesla does not report U.S. sales separately.
The decline in Tesla sales would probably have been steeper if not for the boost in electric vehicles in Europe, Asia and other markets. U.S. sales of battery-powered cars slumped after Congress repealed subsidies last year.
Instead, Americans appear to be choosing hybrids because they offer some of the fuel savings of electric vehicles but cost less.
Hyundai, which has a broad lineup of hybrid vehicles, reported, also on Thursday, a 3 percent gain in third-quarter sales, fueled by a 39 percent increase in sales of hybrids.
Toyota, which sells the most hybrids, said sales of those models and fully electric vehicles rose 29 percent in the third quarter. Overall the company’s sales were flat.
Most auto executives agree that, even in the United States, electric vehicles will eventually replace conventional vehicles as prices come down and people get used to the technology. Rivian, for example, reported on Friday that its third-quarter sales jumped 46 percent from a year earlier after the company introduced a more affordable S.U.V.
“We are seeing a systemic shift to E.V.s in the long run,” Professor Lenox said.
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