Toyota bucks the trend as new EVs drive growth — SkimNews
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- Toyota Motor North America sold 633,233 vehicles in Q3 2026, up 0.6% year-over-year, narrowing the gap with GM's roughly 671,000 US units in the same quarter.
- GM reported a 6% quarterly sales decline, citing "the much smaller EV market and discontinued vehicles," as its Chevy Equinox EV cratered 92% to just 1,905 units from over 25,000 a year earlier.
- Toyota's bZ SUV sold 2,381 units in Q3, bringing its year-to-date total to nearly 25,000 and ranking it fourth among US EVs behind the Hyundai IONIQ 5, Tesla Model 3, and Tesla Model Y.
- Toyota now fields five electric SUVs across its Toyota and Lexus brands — the bZ, C-HR, bZ Woodland, Lexus RZ, and ES EV — with the three-row Lexus TZ arriving later this year and a Toyota Highlander BEV slated for 2027.
- Toyota's electrified portfolio — EVs, plug-in hybrids, and hybrids — accounted for 57.4% of total Q3 sales volume, a mix that has cushioned the automaker after the $7,500 federal EV tax credit expired at the end of September 2025.
- Toyota opened its new Battery Center of North America in Saline, Michigan, a 30,000-square-foot facility focused on developing and testing batteries for its next-generation vehicles.
Why it matters: Toyota's EV growth defies the post-tax-credit headwinds that cratered GM's Equinox EV by 92%, suggesting Toyota's affordable $35,000 bZ and a hybrid-heavy mix — 57.4% of Q3 sales — insulate it from the demand cliff hitting pure-EV rivals.
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