December 14, 2021 | Vehicles in Operation and Registrations in 2021 by Automaker and Segment. Where’s Tesla?

At the end of the third quarter, there were 283.8 million vehicles in operation (VIO) in the US, of all model years, from the oldest still-registered classic to new vehicles that were just sold, up from 281.6 million vehicles a year earlier, according to Experian’s quarterly report, based on registration data. And over the 12-month period, 43.4 million used vehicles changed hands.

The net gain of 2.2 million vehicles in operation over the 12-month period is a result of:

• Plus: New cars and light trucks registered: 16.1 million
• Minus: Vehicles taken out of operation (salvaged, exported, etc.): 13.9 million.

Vehicles in Operation by Automaker:

Of all the 283.8 vehicles still on the road, 21.6% were manufactured by GM, and 16.4% by Ford. Toyota is number three. Where is Tesla? It still has only a minuscule share of 0.3% all VIO and is relegated to be part of “Other manufacturers.”

New Vehicle Sales in 2021 by Automaker:

In 2021 through Q3, Toyota became the market leader as its supply chains were less tangled up by the chip shortages than those of other top automakers, pushing GM and Ford into second and third place.

Tesla, with a share of 1.9% of new registrations in 2021, ranked just behind Daimler and ahead of “Others,” near the bottom.

Bestsellers: The Toyota RAV4 accounted for 2.6% of all sales in 2021 through Q3, making it the #1 bestseller this year, followed by the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (2.5%), the Ford F-150 (2.5%), the Honda CR-V (2.5%), and the Toyota Camry (2.2%).

Segments of Vehicles in Operation.

Of all 283.8 million vehicles in operation, compact SUVs had a share of 20.4%, split into entry level (11.0%), mid-range (5.6%), and premium (3.9%).

Midsize cars, the mainstay of rental fleets, accounted for 19.5% of all VIO, split into standard (9.4%), lower end (7.1%), premium (3.0%).

Full-size pickups accounted for 16.3%; and compact pickups for 4.3%, for a combined pickup truck share of 20.6% of all VIO.

Not shown here are EVs because in terms of VIO, their numbers are too small: There were 1.3 million EVs in operation at the end of Q3, accounting for 0.46% of all vehicles in operation.

Truck Country.

These are the top six states in terms of the most new pickups sold in 2021 through Q3, with their share of total pickup registrations in the US:

• In Texas: 13.0%
• In California: 8.0%
• In Michigan: 4.3%
• In New York: 3.7%
• In Pennsylvania: 3.6%
• In Ohio: 3.3%.

But note: Oklahoma has only 1.2% of the US population, but 2.2% of all pickups were sold there in 2021, while New York has 6.1% of the US population, but only 3.7% of all pickups were sold there.

EV sales by state:

In 2021 through Q3, of all the EVs sold, over one-third were sold in California (which has 12% of the US population), making it by far the hottest EV state. Top five states in terms of the share of EV registrations in 2021.

• California: 34.9%
• Florida: 7.5%
• Texas: 5.9%
• New York: 4.9%
• Washington: 3.7%

Automakers’ share of EV sales in 2021 through Q3.

Tesla still totally dominates the still minuscule EV market, and its sales grew in 2021, but competition from the legacy automakers is encroaching on it at a snail’s pace, and its total share of EV sales fell to 68.2% in 2021, from 79.4% in 2020. But at this pace, it’ll be a while before the legacy automakers transcend their own hype and actually start making and selling enough EVs to pull up next to Tesla:

• Tesla: 68.2%
• Chevrolet: 7.6%
• Ford: 5.2%
• Volkswagen: 3.6%

Wolf Richter December 14th, 2021

Posted In: Wolf Street

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