Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) announced on Wednesday that its US sales increased 5.9% year over year in July, boosted by demand for its pickup trucks and the Bronco SUV even as electric vehicle (EV) deliveries shifted into reverse.
The Detroit automaker revealed domestic new vehicle sales of 173,639 for the month, up from 163,942 in July 2022.
Ford’s F-Series pickups, which is an important profit driver for the company, climbed 8.2% from a year ago to 68,536, while sales of the electric F-150 Lightning sank more than 28% after Ford shut down the Lightning’s factory for six weeks to install production upgrades.
However, on Tuesday the company reported that orders for the Lightning had surged sixfold after price reductions in mid-July.
Ford also noted that it anticipates Lightning sales will be slow through mid-September as it rebuilds dealer inventories of the model, but that it expects to build more than 70,000 Lightnings in 2023, CNBC reported.
It added that the factory upgrades will give the company the capacity to produce 150,000 Lightnings per year once they’re fully up and running this fall.
Last week, Ford stated that it expects its EV unit to lose $4.5 billion in 2023 as the automaker increases spending to gear up to a production rate of 600,000 EVs yearly at some point in 2024.
Shares of Ford Motor slipped 3% to $13.04 in midday trading on Wednesday but have gained 12% year to date.
Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com