[RahulNagaraj]

With Americans showcasing a growing interest to shift from ICE vehicles to EVs, search volumes for electric cars are said to have doubled over the last year.



More and more people are said to be trading in their ICE cars to buy either a new or used EV. Now, a new study by CarMax reveals that most of the vehicle owners who want to shift to an EV mostly own a Toyota model. The study mentioned that Toyota is the most traded-in brand, accounting for 12% of the total ICE to EV trades. The second position is tied between Ford & BMW at 8%, while Honda is third with 7%. This is also the second year in a row that Toyota has become the most traded-in brand for EVs, as per the study.

The study also looked at trends in segments and vehicle types and found that SUVs were the most common trade-ins for EVs, accounting for 40% of the total ICE-to-EV trades. Sedans and coupes made up 29%, while luxury vehicles accounted for 17% of the trade-ins. Also, with the most popular EV being the Tesla Model 3, it seems ICE owners are trading in their SUVs for EV sedans or crossovers.

Reports also state that the most common trade-in for the Model 3 was the Honda Civic, with the Toyota Tacoma being second. Also, most shoppers buying the Nissan Leaf traded in a Toyota Prius.

Source: Jalopnik

Link to Team-BHP news

[nicodash]

Misleading analysis! Toyota has been the market leader in the US auto market for a long time with market share of 13-14% (just eclipsed by GM this year due to supply chain issues). If they have sold 13-14% of all the vehicles in that market for many years, it is not unreasonable to expect that 12% of the traded-in vehicles might be Toyotas!

Similar issue exists with their analysis that most people are trading SUVs for Sedan EVs, since the most popular EV is Model 3 (sedan). The EV lineup is still very small compared to ICE, and there is no breakout hit EV SUV in the market, yet.

Hope we see less of such news headlines!

[Sangre]

Originally Posted by nicodash

..If they have sold 13-14% of all the vehicles in that market for many years, it is not unreasonable to expect that 12% of the traded-in vehicles might be Toyotas!

Similar issue exists with their analysis that most people are trading SUVs for Sedan EVs, since the most popular EV is Model 3 (sedan)...

Absolutely! If Toyotas are the most owned cars around, it's to be expected that they will also occupy similar shares in the trade-in numbers too. What is surprising is the share of BMW because I don't think they are anywhere close to second in terms of number of cars around in the US (I may be wrong, just guessing).

[nicodash]

Originally Posted by Sangre

What is surprising is the share of BMW because I don't think they are anywhere close to second in terms of number of cars around in the US.

That oversized presence of BMWs in the trade-in data might be due to the luxury car buyers being less price sensitive! Only a guess since I have no experience owning a luxury car, or an EV

[ashis89]

This could simply be because of the good resale that Toyotas enjoy, making it easier on the pocket to upgrade to a new EV.

[Sangre]

Yes, makes sense on being easier to trade-in reliable Toyotas. Off-topic - in the US or in India, I guess it make more sense to sell your car independently and buy another car (EV or otherwise) than trade-in, from a financial view point. Convenience view point may have the reverse choice.

[ZenMaster]

While I agree with the reason that Toyota being the most traded in model is due to the high market share in the ICE vehicles, the fact that Toyota doesn't have a proper EV option for their customers to upgrade to is what the planners at Toyota should be really worried about.

Their loyal customer base is trading in Toyotas for EVs from other OEMs because they hid their head in the sand and waited to long to start EV development. Their current offering like bZ4X is just a mediocre offering in terms of range.

Now a new generation of children will not have grown up in the back of a Toyota or hear their parents or neighbours constantly raving about Toyota's bulletproof reliability etc.

[travelling owl]

One of the key reasons why Toyota ICE's are traded more compared to high end cars might be because people tend to keep high end cars longer. I feel it is still too early stage for such analysis. We still need more OEMs to launch EVs which are successful with wide options as we have in ICEs as of now. This is not yet an apples to apples comparison!

[EV Fan]

Originally Posted by nicodash

Misleading analysis! Toyota has been the market leader in the US auto market for a long time with market share of 13-14%

Yes, it does not look like a thorough analysis. The overall Toyota figures are self explanatory.

I think the crux of the study is

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

Also, most shoppers buying the Nissan Leaf traded in a Toyota Prius.

And as what ZenMaster pointed out.

Originally Posted by ZenMaster

the fact that Toyota doesn't have a proper EV option for their customers to upgrade to is what the planners at Toyota should be really worried about.
Their loyal customer base is trading in Toyotas for EVs from other OEMs because they hid their head in the sand and waited to long to start EV development.

The Toyota was about reliability and their hybrids, they literally were considered a segment leader. Hope they don't get fully buried and lost in the sands of time (i just LOVED their prius, i mean it was a sci-fi dream in a sea of ICE fossils).
The new generation of children will now grow up in the back of a Tesla & hear their parents or neighbors constantly raving about Tesla's EV's - performance, cost of ownership, cleaner ride etc