The average price of a new car is soaring. It now sits north of $50,000, which is the first time in history this has ever happened for Americans. Needless to say, then, buying a new car is a big decision, but it’s a decision that millions of Americans are making each and every year.
There are a few big players that all vie for the top spot when it comes to being America’s best-selling automaker, and it’s closer than you might think. In 2024, three automakers impressed with more than two million sales each. It wasn’t Stellantis, the American giant only managed 1.3 million sales last year, which is a bit behind the others, but it is going through something of a rocky patch right now.
Ford is the first of our automakers to crack the 2 million barrier last year. Specifically, the Blue Oval brand shifted 2.08 million models last year, which is up from 2023, where they failed to crack past the second million. Proving we aren’t all patriotic buyers, Toyota sweeps in next, with 2,332,623 models sold in 2024 — also up from 2023’s figures. Toyota is actually the best-selling automaker on a global scale, but just within the confines of the American market, it plays second fiddle to a home-grown giant, one which has been doing the rounds for over a century now.
That automaker is General Motors. GM managed to sell 2.7 million vehicles in 2024, netting itself a 16.5% market share, boasting that all brands from beneath the GM umbrella managed to post strong sales gains throughout the year.
GM’s success comes from across the board
The brands that make up GM are Cadillac, Buick, GMC, and Chevrolet. Of course, the umbrella used to be much larger, with over 40 brands having once belonged, but many have fallen by the wayside over the years, perhaps most notably those that did so in 2009 when GM filed for bankruptcy.
However, that was a long time ago now, and topping the charts as the best-selling American automaker is a great way for GM to demonstrate the strong position it now holds. Some would argue that giving GM the top spot is a little unfair — it’s technically four automakers — so instead, let’s break it down and see how each of those four brands performed individually.
Cadillac shifted 160,204 cars in 2024. Out of 2.7 million that might not seem an awful lot, but Cadillac is the luxury arm owned by GM, so it checks out. 2024’s figures were 8.8% up on 2023 – all GM brands improved over 2023. Buick performed similarly, increasing sales by 9.8% which gives a total of 183,421 for the year. That’s two of the four brands covered, and yet we’re nowhere near even the first million units shifted.
GMC managed an 8.9% increase over 2023’s figures, with a total of 614,117 sales. Impressive, but these numbers are nothing compared to the GM volume seller Chevrolet, which managed to sell a mighty 1,745,809 units in 2024 — marking a 1.7% improvement over the previous year. GM’s most popular model was the Silverado, with 560,264 finding a new home last year, helping to cement GM’s position as the best-seller for the year.
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