“For years, the automotive industry has been in a state of EV euphoria. Automakers trotted out optimistic sales forecasts for electric models and announced ambitious targets for EV growth. Wall Street boosted valuations for legacy automakers and startup entrants alike, based in part on their visions for an EV future,” reported CNBC.

The article listed Ford, GM, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin as companies scaling back their EV ambitions.

“What we saw in ’21 and ’22 was a temporary market spike where the demand for EVs really took off,” said Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer for Ford’s EV unit, during a recent interview with CNBC. “It’s still growing but not nearly at the rate we thought it might have in ’21, ’22.”

Ford is amping up the importance of hybrids in its lineup. Toyota has embraced a hybrid-first strategy and is profiting from that move. Volkswagen currently only sells hybrids in Europe, but is considering offering them in the United States.

According to CNN, Cox Automotive estimates that U.S. EV sales were a record 1.2 million units last year, representing 7.6% of the overall national market.

“We’ve always had a freedom-of-choice kind of approach,” Gjaja said. “Some of that was to protect ourselves against going too far in one direction, because the market right now, as we’ve seen, is very uncertain.

Preparing for the 2024 SOI Summit? Be sure to check out last year’s coverage in the June issue of NACS Magazine, including a deep dive into the state of EVs.