Not ‘electric’: the American car market is growing with large SUVs and pickups Not ‘electric’: the American car market is growing with large SUVs and pickups

Despite high fuel prices, large SUVs and pickups are in high demand in the American car market. In the third quarter, industry giant General Motors increased deliveries of its GMC Sierra heavy-duty pickup model by about 46 percent year-over-year to about 73,000 vehicles.

Meanwhile, GM’s electric vehicle sales remain muted: Deliveries of the Lyric electric SUV rose to more than 3,000 from 36 vehicles a year ago, and just 18 of the Silverado electric pickup were sold.

Developments in the US car market are seen as an indicator of consumer confidence in times of high fuel prices and interest rates, as well as economic concerns. Complicating the situation further are strikes by the UAW auto union, which could lead to tighter supplies of some models. The success of hybrid versions of some models for which subsidies were available was striking.

GM increased quarterly U.S. deliveries by a total of about 21 percent to more than 674,300 vehicles. At Toyota there was an increase of twelve percent to approximately 590,000 cars. Chrysler group Stellantis recorded a decline of one percent to just under 380,600 vehicles. There was another development for German car manufacturers. VW subsidiary Audi increased deliveries by 21 percent to more than 59,500 vehicles. However, for the VW brand there was a decline of 1.2 percent to 87,756 vehicles. (sda/dpa)