Ford Sales Totals Grow in July but EVs Swoon – The Detroit Bureau

Ford Motor Co. reported a 6% increase in sales during July, but its sales of electric vehicles dropped by 18% last month.

Additionally sales of the company’s pickup trucks increased by 15% but sales of the company’s SUVs dropped by 2% as sales of the Ford Explorer plunged 51% during July. Sales of the Lincoln brand vehicles dropped by 4.4%, according to the company’s monthly sales report. 

Ford expands EV production as sales drop

While sales of EVs dropped during July, Ford’s sales of hybrids increased by 11%.

“We expect the EV market to remain volatile until the winners and losers shake out,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in an earnings call after the company reported its EV business had lost more than $1 billion dollars during the second quarter.

Ford estimates it will lose about $4.5 billion for the year on the Ford reflecting the pricing environment, disciplined investments in new products and capacity, and other costs. Meanwhile, the company is scrambling to adjust the prices on EVs, recently announcing a price cut on its flagship EV, the F-150 Lightning. 

At the same time Ford just completed a major expansion of F-150 Lightning EV pickup production. Ford also said this week it resumed production of the F-150 Lightning following a six-week shutdown to expand and retool the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center plant. 

The expansion triples manufacturing capacity of the electric pickup, Ford officials said during a call about the move.

More EV models coming

Ford also said the capacity increase at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center supports shorter order-to-delivery times for customers with a focus on building high-demand trim levels like XLT, which accounts for more than 50% of new orders. 

The new adjusted prices on the F-150 Lightning helped increase web traffic by 300% and accounted for a 600% jump in customer orders as Lightning becomes more accessible to a broader segment of shoppers. The increased capacity is also expected to open up the opportunity to broaden the number of trim levels offered across the electric F-150 line-up, better addressing customer wants since the initial product reveal.

Analysts said July was generally a good month for the auto industry, which overrode rising interest rates to post sales gains. American Honda said its monthly sales nearly doubled in July and Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Subaru and Toyota all posted gains. Mazda North American Operations also reported total July sales of 30,629 vehicles, an increase of 30.9% compared to July 2022.

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• Source: https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2023/08/ford-sales-totals-grow-in-july-but-evs-swoon/