Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go

Oscar Wilde, The Duchess of Padua

I like numbers. Numbers don’t lie, they don’t have feelings, and, most of all, they are the ultimate reflection of our true desires and intent. Oh, liars most definitely use statistics, and don’t get me started on how percentages can be manipulated — my favourite example being that global EV sales are booming when, other than in China and Norway (the latter hardly counting) sales are either down (Europe) or up modestly (8% in the U.S.A.).

Nonetheless, when rigorously delivered, everything numerical is a font of knowledge. So, without further ado, here is Motor Mouth’s by-the-numbers take on the state of the automotive industry, the data — yes, even the percentages — plain, simple, and, hopefully, conscientiously researched.

5%

That is, according to Deloitte Insights’ recent 2025 Global Automotive Consumer Study, the percentage of U.S. shoppers for whom a full battery-electric is the preferred choice for their next vehicle purchase. That share’s a little less than the proportion that desire plug-in hybrids (6%) and a lot less than the people who would prefer regular hybrids (20%).

That stands in contrast to Deloitte’s findings for China, where BEVs would be preferred by 27% of new-car shoppers, PHEVs by 17%, and hybrids just 16%. Interestingly, the intention to buy a ZEV — that’s BEVs and PHEVs combined — runs a little higher in the United States than actual sales, while, in China, the number of people who say they want to drive a ZEV runs substantially lower than the number of people actually buying them.

That would seem to make suspect the notion that the popularity of EVs amongst the countryfolk is not quite as organic — that should be read “voluntary” — as proposed. 

$15 million

That is, according to The Logic, the investment in Honda’s much-vaunted Canadian EV plant that might be “spooked” away by Trump’s tariff tactics. Honda, you might remember, had announced it would build huge electric-vehicle facilities in Ontario, so large, in fact, that The Logic says they would have been double in capacity those of Volkswagen, and triple that of Stellantis.

Trump’s 25% tariff on any car Canadian and the likelihood of a roll-back on consumer incentives south of the border – not to mention the Conservatives pledging to end the EV mandate here in Canada — has made Honda “very careful” of building electric vehicles in the Great White Frozen North. Or so said Vice-President Noriya Kaihara at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

US$2,600

That’s how much consumers’ vehicle costs could increase next year, GoodCarBadCar claiming that Trump’s “most beautiful” tariffs “potentially [add] $2,600 annually to the average U.S. household’s expenses.”

$12,000

That is the amount of money someone in Quebec might have lost for having delayed their purchase of a new electric vehicle. Prior to January 1, some $7,000 of that subsidization total came grace of the Quebec government, the other $5,000 from the feds. La Belle Province, however, had long planned to reduce its maximum incentive to $4,000 on January 1, 2025. But due to lack of funds, it’s actually dropping all its EV incentives at the beginning of February. Worse yet, the earliest those Roulez Vert subsidies can come back would be March 31, the beginning of the province’s next budgetary cycle.

Federal funding for ZEV incentives, meanwhile, also runs out on March 31. The problem is that the soon-to-be former prime minister — man, how good does that feel to say out loud? — has prorogued government until March 24, and the Quebec government is on an austerity program. The former means that the Liberal Party has much bigger things to do (like elect a leader and deal with Trump) than to worry about EV subsidy programs, and Francois Legault’s CAQ is in a hurry to reign in the provincial deficit.

So, in a worst-case scenario, moving forward, Quebecers could receive no subvention at all; and, in a best-case scenario, they’ll still get $4,000 if they buy an EV. But that’s still a whopping $8,000 less than if they bought their battery-electric before December 31. Motor Mouth’s bet: with Pierre Poilievre’s promise to reduce the provincial deficit, the only EV incentives left will be in British Columbia — and they will probably end in four years when David Eby’s NDP is (unceremoniously) turfed out of government.

3%

Incredible as it may seem — especially given all the the-sky-is-falling headlines we read — that’s the percentage the Asia Society Policy Institute estimates global greenhouse-gas emissions dropped in the year up to March 2024. And the reason is because China, the poster child for all things green, is finally getting its CO2-emitting house in order.

What will probably surprise folk even more is the report from The Economist that claims America’s CO2 emissions actually peaked in 2013, Germany’s in 1990, and, in Britain, way back in 1973. And because Motor Mouth really does like hard numbers, it’s worth noting that China’s production of CO2 in 2023 was about 50 times that of the U.K., 25 times that of Germany, and more than twice as much as the U.S.

Want more expert takes on the state of the industry? Sign up for our next Driving into the Future panel

The good news is that China is the leader in adding solar and wind to its electricity mix. Still, for all those that think that climate salvation is as simple as driving a battery-powered electric vehicle, it’s worth noting that China’s power-generating network still pumps out almost three times as much CO2 per kilowatt-hour of electricity as our Canadian grid does.

55.8%

Riding a wave of hybridization, more than half of the cars Toyota sold in Canada in the last quarter of 2024 were electrified. A full 49% of the 77,556 RAV4s (the fastest-selling non-truck in the land, by the way) sold here were hybrids (either PHEVs or ordinary HEVs) and the number would have been even better but for the fact Prime PHEVs are still in short supply, the world’s most prolific automaker not able to keep up with demand.

Even more impressive — and probably worth its own bullet point — is that fully 58% of all hybrids sold in Canada (not including PHEVs this time) wore either a Toyota or a Lexus badge. Indeed, the 90,951 HEVs sold by Toyota Canada Inc. last year was more than some major brands’ entire portfolios.

2nd

That’s the position that often-derided General Motors now has in the U.S. electric vehicle market, the 114,432 EVs it sold in 2024 behind only Tesla, and marking a 50% increase over 2023. Better yet, the 43,982 battery electrics it sold in Q4 represent a whopping 125% increase over 2023. Chevy’s Equinox EV has proven quite the hit. Here in Canada, 14% (41,460) of the 294,315 vehicles GM delivered in 2024 were pure battery-electrics.

7,742

That’s how many more Mustang Mach-Es Ford U.S.A. sold last year compared with traditional Mustangs. The former’s sales rose by 27% to 51,745; the latter was down 9.5% to 44,003. And, yes, it’s the first time Ford’s electrified crossover has outsold its iconic sports car. Here in Canada, the disparity was even bigger, the Mach-E accounting for 10,658 sales, and the pony car just 3,818 units.

US$46,200

According to J.D. Power, that was the average price of a car bought in the U.S. last month. That’s up almost a third from $34,900 in December 2019, but, thankfully, down slightly from the peak of US$47,300 in December 2022. It might explain why sales at Stellantis — traditionally, a lower-cost supplier — are down some 42% since 2015, and, why, according to Wolf Street, overall sales south of the border are still less than they were in 1986, and far below the peaks of 17.4 million and 17.6 million in 2000 and 2016, respectively. Here in Canada, the average cost of a car was up even more — 37% — with pretty much the same result.

2.6 million

That’s the number of Teslas that are part of a new National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) probe into the company’s Actually Smart Summon driver-less parking feature. They join the 2.4 million the NHTSA is also investigating for potentially faulty Full Self Driving. And, yes, Elon Musk’s DOGE is still seemingly in charge of gutting governmental agencies.

47%

This number holds little statistical value and is, considering our lack of interaction with its auto market, of no particular import to Canadians. Nonetheless, I can’t help but report that, according to the Cypress Mail, “sales of new passenger cars in Russia increased by 47% in 2024.”

Most Western automakers abandoned the former Soviet Union in the wake of Putin’s “special military operation,” and Chinese automakers stepped into the breach. Chery is already the number one brand in Russia. Isn’t that what good friends are for? Supplying inferior military equipment and taking over your automotive industry? As Oscar Wilde said so pithily, “some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”

Author’s Note: If any of this interests you, note that we will be hosting a Driving into the Future panel discussing these and other related subjects on January 22, 2025 at 11:00 AM. You can register here for free.

Sign up for our newsletter Blind-Spot Monitor and follow our social channels on X, Tiktok and LinkedIn to stay up to date on the latest automotive news, reviews, car culture, and vehicle shopping advice.