Ford Mustang Mach-E EV vehicles at a Ford dealership in Los Angeles, California, United States, Thursday, October 16, 2025.
Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Images
DETROIT — Sales of fully electric vehicles collapsed last month after federal incentives of up to $7,500 for purchasing an electric vehicle ended, several automakers said Monday.
Ford engineKia, Hyundai Motor and Toyota engine reported a massive drop in electric vehicle sales as many buyers moved ahead with their purchases before the credits ended due to changes made by the Trump administration.
Ford, which ranked third in U.S. electric vehicle sales in the third quarter, reported a 25% year-over-year decline in its all-electric October sales. This included a 12% drop for its Mustang Mach-E crossover and a 17% drop for the F-150 Lightning.
Toyota announced that it sold 18 units of its only fully electric vehicle, named BZ, in October. This is down from 1,401 units a year earlier and 61 vehicles the month before.
Kia and Hyundai reported that their top electric vehicle models fell between 52% and 71% from the previous year. The declines are significantly larger when looking month-over-month, as September marked the end of a record quarter for U.S. electric vehicle sales before the credits ended.
Some models, such as Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 electric vehicles, fell 80% and 71%, respectively, from September to October, according to their reported sales. It was a similar story for comparable vehicles at Kia, which is owned by Hyundai Motor but operates largely separately in the United States.
“Although the expiration of the federal tax credit impacted electric vehicle sales in the month of October, we still saw strong demand leading up to this change, and we remain confident that the market will reset,” Randy Parker, CEO of Hyundai Motor North America, told CNBC in an interview Monday.
At the same time, sales of hybrid vehicles from automakers are expected to continue to increase. Sales of these models for each of the automakers were bright spots in October, the companies said.
Parker said Hyundai’s hybrid sales jumped 41% last month compared to October 2024, driving its total sales of “electrified” vehicles, which include electric vehicles, up 8%.
Only a limited number of automakers report sales monthly rather than quarterly, but the results are an early indication of the expected decline in electric vehicle sales after federal incentives end.
“With credit now out of the way, the market seems to be settling at a more natural pace,” said Jessica Caldwell, head of analytics at CarMax Edmunds said in a blog post Monday. “October marks the beginning of a reset period: a period defined less by incentive-driven urgency and more by buyers motivated by genuine interest in electric vehicle ownership.”
Before incentives for electric vehicles ended, several auto industry executives, such as Parker and Ford CEO Jim Farley, predicted a massive decline in electric vehicle sales.
Farley said late last month that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if electric vehicle sales fell to around 5% market share after the incentives ended, falling from a level of 10% to 12% in September.
Teslawith a market share of 43.1%, and General enginesat 13.8%, led the U.S. auto industry this year in record third-quarter domestic sales of all-electric vehicles, according to data provided to CNBC by Motor Intelligence.
Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book estimates that U.S. electric vehicle sales volume reached a record high in the third quarter, reaching 438,487 units sold. This represents a 40.7% jump from the previous quarter and a 29.6% year-over-year increase.
Clarification: This article has been updated to clarify the description of Farley’s remarks.