Ford Motor Co.’s U.S. sales rose 5.9% year-over-year in July, according to figures released Wednesday.
The Dearborn automaker sold 173,639 vehicles last month. More than 155,000 of those were internal combustion engine vehicles, sales of which were up 5.7%. Sales of hybrid vehicles were up 31.6% to just under 11,500, while sales of battery-electric vehicles were down 18.1% to 6,280.
The results underperformed the industry as a whole, which Cox Automotive estimated saw an increase of more than 15% over year-ago levels, to nearly 1.3 million vehicles.
“Vastly increased inventory levels and a general improvement in consumer sentiment are helping fuel stronger sales in the U.S.,” Cox analysts wrote in a note Wednesday. “Recovering fleet business — notably with rental and government buyers — was also a key driver of volume this month, as it has been through the first half of 2023.”
New-vehicle inventory levels were up approximately 75% year-over-year in early July, according to Cox. Analysts estimate the seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales came in close to 15.7 million in July, up from 13.3 million a year ago. The large industry gains were primarily driven by performances from brands including Hyundai and Kia, according to Cox. America Honda’s sales were up nearly 57% from a year ago.
Ford, meanwhile, has pointed to downtime at two of its EV plants in recent months to explain a dip in EV sales, as the automaker works to expand production capacity. On Tuesday, the company said it had restarted production at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, where the electric F-150 Lightning is assembled. The plant was down for six weeks to expand and retool to support a tripling of production capacity; executives said they expect Lightning sales to ramp up this fall and that the plant remains on track to hit an annual production rate of 150,000 Lightning trucks by the end of the third quarter.
Ford sold 1,552 Lightning trucks in July, down 28.6% from a year ago.
In July, Ford’s SUV sales were down 2% while trucks were up 15.2%.
Sales were up for the Bronco Sport, Escape, Bronco, Edge, F-Series, Ranger, Maverick, E-Series and Transit. They were down for Mustang Mach-E, Explorer, Expedition, Transit Connect, heavy trucks and Mustang.
F-Series, the best-selling truck line in the United States and Ford’s flagship product, notched 68,536 sales in July, up 8.2% from July 2022.
The Bronco family of vehicles, which includes the Bronco and Bronco Sport, saw sales rise 41% in July. And sales of the newly redesigned Ford Escape were up 26%.
Lincoln brand sales fell 4.4% year-over-year. Year-to-date, Ford’s sales are up 9.4% from the first seven months of 2022.
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