Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) claimed that it was America’s best-selling brand after it revved up sales by 10.7% to 456,972 vehicles in the first quarter, driven by its F-Series Truck, iconic Broncos, Mustangs and electric vehicles.
The Detroit automaker reported that sales surged across Ford’s areas of strength: three-row SUVs up 47.6%, Bronco brand up 18.3%, Ford Pro Transit van up 86%, Mustang up 5.2% and electric vehicles up 41%.
Ford became America’s No. 1 selling truck manufacturer – sales up 19.6% to 254,023 and outselling GM’s combined truck and van sales. The F-Series is America’s best-selling truck with sales up 21.1% totaling 170,377 pickups – outpacing Silverado by 46,000 trucks.
To support the momentum, Ford said its Kansas City Assembly Plant will add a third crew in April to increase production for Ford Pro, part of best-selling Transit and E-Transit vans.
In addition, Ford said that it is increasing production at manufacturing plants across North America to meet strong customer demand for vehicles including Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, Bronco Sport and Maverick.
"Ford is off to a fast start to the year. Ford’s sales growth and investments are a direct result of strong customer demand across our truck, SUV, and electric vehicle segments,” Andrew Frick, VP sales, distribution, and trucks at Ford, said in a statement.
“And this year’s highly anticipated new product launches with Super Duty, Escape, Mustang and Ranger, will only add to this momentum,” he added.
The company said its Ford Explorer was the best-selling, three-row midsize SUV in America.
BlueCruise, Ford’s driver-assist technology, is now available in 186,000 vehicles; customers have accumulated more than 55 million hands-free miles driven with the technology. Consumer Reports rated Ford BlueCruise as the top-rated active driving assistance system, according to the company.
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