Hybrid vehicle sales continue to rise in US as electric, plug-in vehicle shares remain flat
plug-in hybrid vehicles
, up from about 18 per cent in the first quarter of 2024. Among those categories, hybrid electric vehicles have continued to gain market share while
battery electric vehicles
and plug-in hybrid vehicles have remained relatively flat, according to estimates from Wards Intelligence.
The estimates, published by the US Energy Information Administration, indicated that battery electric vehicle sales in particular are more common in the luxury vehicle market. US luxury vehicles accounted for 14 per cent of the total light-duty vehicle market in the first quarter of the year, the lowest share since mid-2020.
Electric vehicles accounted for 23 per cent of total luxury sales in the first quarter of 2025. Electric vehicles had accounted for more than one-third of luxury sales in 2023 and 2024 before Wards reclassified the Tesla Model 3 as non-luxury in late 2024. (ANI/ WAM)
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5 days ago
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Ford's plans also call for massive castings of the front and back of the vehicle's frames—again similar to advances that Tesla has implemented to its vehicles. It was an idea that Musk drew inspiration from die-cast toy cars, thinking it could reduce the number of parts required. At the event, as Field talked about the changes coming, he even borrowed an old engineering axiom from his former boss. Musk, as he posted on X just this week, often preaches simplicity. And Field used Musk's exact words: 'The best part is no part." Field obviously knows the playbook; now he just needs to score another big win. Write to Tim Higgins at
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5 days ago
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The Man Tasked With Nailing Ford's Next Model T Moment
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That focus, though, seems largely abandoned as Musk now chases robot dreams. Instead Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley is warning about the threat of Chinese rivals making more affordable EVs. He called this week's announcement Ford's new 'Model T moment.' In an industry known for hype and hyperbole, there is, perhaps, no single engineer who has been attached to more fantastical personal transportation projects in the past 20 years than Field. The Segway scooter; the Tesla Model 3; the Apple car. And, now, the Model T of tomorrow. Field is basically being asked to save the company from irrelevance—at least in the minds of Wall Street investors who think China has already won. After Monday's event, however, investors didn't seem sold on Ford's latest hype-mobile. Shares finished the day down slightly—not the sort of reaction one would expect for such a game-changer. One factor in the apparent apathy may have been that Ford didn't display an actual vehicle. 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These were classic hallmarks of Field's work at Tesla when he was pushing development of the Model 3 to be much cheaper than its predecessor, the Model S, which regularly sold for around $100,000. Or, as Field told reporters before this week's event, his team brought to Ford product development 'first principles thinking'—a favorite Musk-ism for analyzing problems to their most basic levels. Manufacturing speed and automation have long been a focus for Musk. In 2023, Tesla began talking about its new manufacturing system that it dubbed 'unboxed,' a process to improve efficiencies that moved away from a single line to build the vehicle in sections. A key part of Field's plan, too, involves changing how the car is manufactured, updating practices as old as Ford itself. The project calls for giving up a single manufacturing line for three parallel lines that, the company said, will allow for greater speed. 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Time of India
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Oil Ministry rules out price cut for ethanol-blended fuel as procurement cost exceeds petrol
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