GM EV Sales Fall 43% Through Sep 2026; Cadillac Leads

General Motors' electric vehicle volumes fell 43.2 percent through the first nine months of 2026, down to 82,152 units from 144,668 a year earlier, according to company figures.

GM's electric lineup suffered its steepest decline in the third quarter, when EV deliveries plunged 61.7 percent year over year to 25,473 units from 66,601. The company and industry trackers point to the expiration of federal EV tax incentives late last year and a corresponding surge in 2025 purchases as key drivers of the sharp comparisons; the 2025 totals reflected a wave of customers who rushed to buy EVs when subsidy cuts were announced, producing an artificial uplift in year‑over‑year growth.

Model and brand performance

At the model level, Chevrolet remained the group's volume leader among EVs but with much lower results than a year earlier. The Bolt was the best‑selling Chevrolet EV in the period, with 3,866 deliveries. The Equinox EV followed with 1,905 units, a decline of 92.4 percent. The Chevrolet Silverado EV moved 1,655 units, down 58 percent, and the Blazer EV totaled 1,261 units.

GMC saw similar losses. The Sierra EV posted a 50.8 percent year‑over‑year drop, and combined GMC Hummer EV SUV and pickup deliveries in the third quarter numbered 1,423, a 72.9 percent decrease.

By contrast, Cadillac accounted for a disproportionate share of GM's U.S. EV volume in the quarter. Cadillac sold 12,358 electric vehicles in Q3, representing nearly half of GM's U.S. EV footprint for the period and about 38 percent of Cadillac's overall quarterly sales. On a year‑to‑date basis through the first nine months of 2026, Cadillac's total sales are down 25 percent, but its zero‑tailpipe‑emission lineup has held up better than some mainstream offerings. The report attributes that resilience in part to the fact that luxury buyers are generally less reliant on federal consumer subsidies.

Within Cadillac's EV range, the Optiq was the best seller in Q3 with 4,550 units. The Lyriq posted 3,617 deliveries, a 50.5 percent decline, and the Vistiq recorded 2,587 units, down 34.1 percent. Roughly over 1,600 customers took home a Cadillac Escalade IQ or IQL during the quarter.