New-Car Sales Numbers Go Up in June: JD Power Report

The June sales figures have been impacted by macroeconomic factors and cybersecurity attacks.

Tesla vehicles sit for sale at a Tesla dealership in Long Beach, Calif., on March 29, 2025. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Total new-vehicle sales for June 2025, including retail and non-retail transactions, increased 2.5 percent annually, according to a joint forecast report from J.D. Power and GlobalData published on June 25.

After adjustments, there will be roughly 1,247,900 new cars sold this month, according to the report by the data analytics companies. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate—which is the volume of yearly sales—has also gone up by 0.2 million units, to register 15 million total cars for 2025.

Thomas King, president of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power, said that the numbers do not truly indicate an increase in underlying demand for new vehicles.

There was a large dealer software outage following a cyberattack in June 2024. The data breach impacted 15,000 dealerships across the country. The software was used to manage sales, customer support, and other operations. As a result, sales in July jumped by over 25 percent, partly owing to the resumption of normal activities.

King said that the event reduced retail sales in June 2024 by approximately 85,000 vehicles, and so the latest June 2025 sales numbers are actually not encouraging.

The second reason for abnormal numbers is the rush to purchase new vehicles amid the threat of price hikes following tariffs.

When the tariffs were first announced by the Trump administration, new vehicle sales shot up by 22 percent compared with the same period in 2024.

King said, in the J.D. Power report, that approximately 173,000 extra vehicles were sold “in anticipation of future tariff-driven price hikes.”

However, new car prices have remained mostly stable during the tariff-related disruptions, King noted.

A 25 percent tariff on imported automobile parts took effect last month. Parts meeting the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement requirements were exempted by the administration to preserve the stability of the interdependent North American supply chain.

The average new-vehicle retail transaction price in June is expected to reach $46,233, an increase of 3.1 percent annually and 0.2 percent monthly, according to the report. Car buyers will spend approximately $45 billion on new vehicles this month.

The average monthly loan payment is on track to reach $747—the highest June number on record, with the average interest rate for new-vehicle loans at 6.89 percent.

Electric Car Numbers

Internal combustion engine vehicles will account for nearly 76 percent of new vehicle retail sales; hybrids, 1.8 percent of sales; and electric vehicles (EV) will make up 8.7 percent, the report stated.

According to the latest data from Cox Automotive, new EV sales rose 4.2 percent monthly in May, reaching 103,435 units and maintaining a 6.9 percent market share.

However, on a yearly basis, sales were down 10.7 percent. This could be due to a change in tone by the Trump administration, which has rescinded some policies that favor the EV sector.

Tesla remained the market leader in the United States based on Cox data, selling around 46,150 units last month.

However, Tesla’s domination is wavering in the European market, where the share of electric cars has been increasing.

Although year-to-date new-car registrations in the European Union fell by 0.6 percent, the share of EVs accounted for 15.4 percent, an increase from 12.1 percent in May 2024, according to a June 25 report from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

Tesla sold 8,729 units in May 2025, a decrease of more than 40 percent from 2024’s 14,682 units.

Tyson Jominy, senior vice president of data and analytics at J.D. Power, expressed optimism regarding hybrid sales in the United States.

“Hybrids benefit from decades of familiarity, making them an easy purchase by shoppers,” he said. “Dealers also highlight their value, with some models offering fuel savings that are recouped in less than two years.”

“U.S. shoppers can choose from 39 models across 10 nameplates, compared with 30 models from only six brands two years ago. Japanese brands continue to dominate how the market has been evolving, particularly Toyota, who leads the pack with 26 models across its namesake brand plus Lexus.”