Here’s How Automakers Tried To Make A Mostly Terrible First Quarter Sound Less Awful

The vibes at the New York Auto Show were fairly good, with automakers reflecting a sense that things will get better as soon as things calm down. The first quarter was anything but calm, as can be seen in the sales results.

Did automakers still try to put a happy face on it? Of course they did! Some of these arguments were a little stronger than others, as certain brands can rightfully claim supply shortages. Other proclamations of success are a little harder to swallow. And then there are the companies that legitimately did better this quarter, although that’s often just a reflection of how bad Q1 2025 was.

I want to end The Morning Dump on some fun news, so let’s all get together and watch Ford set a new ‘Ring record.

Companies That Did Fine Or Have Reasonable Grounds To Say It’s Not As Bad As It Looks

The overall market for cars was down in Q1, but it was down unevenly. The first two months of 2026 were relatively flat, as expected. It seems like a lot of automakers took a beating in March. Of all the major automakers that report monthly sales (about half only report quarterly now), the one brand that showed growth in March was Genesis. Everyone else was negative.

This means we’re going to start hearing a lot about “share” of the market. When things are going well, automakers tend to emphasize sales growth. When things are going poorly overall, it’s all about share growth.

Here’s Ford from its sales release:

Powered by double-digit growth in Ford’s high margin large SUVs and F-Series’ leadership as America’s No. 1 truck, Ford delivered a higher first quarter retail share amid a shifting industry landscape. Ford’s strategic shift toward high-margin SUVs like Expedition and Explorer lifted its estimated retail market share to 11.6% – a 0.2 percentage point increase. This gain was achieved even as the company managed the planned sunsetting of the Escape and Lincoln Corsair.

What also happened is that sales were down 8.8% year-over-year. For Ford, the “planned sunsetting” of the Escape and Corsair is definitely a big deal, as those were on the affordable end of the market. Worse, though, is that numerous fires at the plant that provides the aluminum to make the Ford F-150 have constrained supply. Ford says it expects “more volume recovery on the back half of the year.” Lincoln ended up basically even for Q1, with the same

The three Hyundai brands (Hyundai, Kia, Genesis) had slightly mixed results for March, but February and January were strong enough that all of those brands remained positive as measured by the quarter. Honda is a bit more of a muddle, with Acura staying positive for the quarter, whereas Honda itself saw a 5.1% decline (partially due to the nosedive in Prologue sales).

Toyota was also slightly positive for the quarter and Lexus wasn’t too far behind, although both brands saw big losses in March. The somewhat surprising success of the refreshed Toyota BZ also helped keep Toyota’s head above water.

Companies That Are Trying Real Hard To Sound Like It’s Going Great

I’d say that most companies fall into the bucket of “actually, it wasn’t so great, but it’s not all bad.” A good version of this comes from a Nissan USA sales release:

Nissan Group announced total U.S. first quarter (January through March) sales for 2026 of 247,068 units, a decrease of 7.5% versus the prior year, while retail sales increased 9.6%, supported by a disciplined strategy, increasing sales of U.S.-built vehicles.

The first quarter’s performance was supported by continued momentum throughout the period, including a strong finish in March. The company marked six consecutive months of retail growth, and is the fastest‑growing mainstream brand in the U.S.

Even as the broader industry declined, Nissan gained market share, underscoring the power of its product lineup and retailer network.

I’m generally bullish on Nissan overall, and what they’re saying isn’t factually or even directionally incorrect. Nissan was one of those companies that kept building vehicles well beyond demand, and cutting production (and shifting what it can to the United States) is 100% the right move. The bit about “retail growth” is also a sign that Nissan is probably doing less fleet-dumping. And “fastest-growing” seems to mean “not falling as fast as everyone else,” I guess?

General Motors, for its part, is trumpeting a good performance relative to how strong last year was and in spite of big storms:

GM sales in Q1 totaled 626,429 vehicles, a decline of 9.7% compared with the same period a year earlier. GM expects a similar decline for the industry as a whole. Year-over-year comparisons are significantly skewed by an exceptionally high selling rate in March of 2025, when industry-wide sales soared to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of more than 18 million units.

“We saw showroom traffic and sales steadily improve after January’s storms and March was a much stronger month. We are well positioned for the future because of our operating discipline and the compelling value we offer, from affordable SUVs to premium vehicles and trucks.” – Duncan Aldred, GM Senior Vice President and President of North America.

GM is also going to be happy to brag about truck growth as Ford struggles to build more F-150s, which is a trend that’ll likely continue until later this year. Not mentioned as much is Buick, which took it on the chin from tariffs.

I will credit some companies without even trying to put a pretty face on it. Mazda, which is transitioning to a new CX-5, got walloped (down 25.7%). Subaru was down 23.5% year-over-year in March and credited “last year’s record-breaking pull-ahead sales” as the culprit. As with the new BZ, the Solterra EV is actually doing decently well, with sales up 50% compared to last March.

Companies That Are At Least Better Off Than A Year Ago

This is where it gets a little trickier. There are some automakers that either did better than expectations or were coming of challenging Q1s. What do I mean? There’s Rivian, which saw a climb of about 20% to 10,365 deliveries. California is the biggest market for Rivian and wildfires, as Automotive News points out, took a bite out of those sales last year.

There is no talking about Tesla that’s going to make anyone happy, as the company managed to do a little better and a little worse depending on how you look at it. Sales were up globally by 6.3%, which was below expectations as Bloomberg reports:

Tesla Inc. posted one of its worst sales quarters in years, missing Wall Street’s expectations, as the carmaker struggles to turn around its core business and navigate an increasingly challenged electric-vehicle market.

The company delivered 358,023 vehicles worldwide in the first quarter, according to a statement Thursday. Analysts anticipated 372,160 on average among estimates compiled by Bloomberg, a figure that steadily dropped in recent weeks. It’s the second consecutive quarter that Tesla has fallen short of projections.

Tesla’s Q1 2025 sales were seriously hampered by a massive global shift to a refreshed Model Y. The expectation was that the company would do a lot better without that slowdown, and the company only did a little better. Still, up is up… except in the United States, where AN cites a Cox Automotive estimate showing Tesla actually dropped by 4.6% year-over-year.

It could be worse, Jaguar Land Rover has my absolute favorite line in a press release:

Q4 wholesale volumes increased 61.1% compared to Q3 FY26, reflecting a return to normal production levels following the cyber incident.

JLR is on a different fiscal year, and what the company is saying here is that the company is doing better than when it literally couldn’t build cars. Sweet!

An actual winner? Stellantis! Maybe 2025 was actually rock bottom, as the automaker was able to brag about quarterly sales that were actually and truly up. As the sales chart shows, you’re not happy to be a Fiat dealer, but Jeep, Ram, and even Dodge were all positive for the quarter. That ain’t nothing!

Ford Go Fast

General Motors may be the sales leader in the United States, but it’s not the leader at the ‘Ring anymore. Ford went to Germany to set a few new records:

The Ford GT Mk IV has set the record as the fastest American OEM around the Nürburgring, and the third fastest overall car to ever lap the Nordschleife. This 6:15.977 time also means that the GT Mk IV — as a track-only vehicle classified in the prototype category — is the fastest car currently available for purchase to lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife. This time also means that the GT Mk IV is the fastest car that is exclusively powered by an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) car around the ‘Ring.

Cool.

What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD

While technically born across the river in Hoboken, Frank Sinatra has come to represent New York as much as almost any other artist to ever live. And he did it, as he sings here, “My Way.”

The Big Question

Which automaker will win 2026?

Top graphic images: Nissan; DepositPhotos.com