Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn posted gains across its portfolio of gas, electric, and hybrid vehicle lines in the third quarter despite the strike by the United Auto Workers, with F-Series expanding its lead as America’s top selling truck, followed by record electric and hybrid vehicle sales and strong commercial Transit van sales.
“We saw strong balanced sales growth providing choice to our customers in the third quarter, with growth coming from our gas engine, electric, hybrid and commercial van lineup,” says Andrew Frick, vice president, sales, distribution and trucks at Ford.
“Ford’s truck lineup remains the industry’s top seller. The Maverick and Bronco Sport remain red hot after Ford boosted manufacturing capacity earlier this year. The all-new seventh generation Mustang is off to a jackrabbit start in its first full month, up 90 percent in September over last year.”
Ford F-Series sales rose 13.4 percent over last year on sales of 190,477 trucks. Year-to-date, F-Series sales totaled 573,370 trucks, outselling the second place Silverado by 169,949 trucks.
Ford overall third quarter truck sales, including pickups and vans, are up 15.3 percent over last year on sales of 275,554 vehicles. Big gains came from the all-new Super Duty pickups (up 17.6 percent), Maverick (up 83.4 percent), and Transit (up 28.3 percent).
Ford was the top selling truck manufacturer again in both the third quarter and year-to-date. With 825,179 pickups and vans sold through September of this year, Ford has outsold GM’s pickups and vans by approximately 64,000 vehicles.
Ford’s third-quarter EV sales were up 14.8 percent with sales of 20,962 vehicles. Much of this gain came on rising Mustang Mach-E sales, up 42.5 percent for the quarter.
In the month of September, Mach-E sales achieved sales of 5,872, a new record and a year-over-year gain of 153 percent for the month. E-Transit was the best-selling electric van with its best ever quarterly sales results of 2,617, an 89.8 percent increase.
F-150 Lightning is expected to see sales rise in the fourth quarter, as capacity at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center grows. In September, Ford’s overall electric vehicle sales were up 65.0 percent.
Ford hybrid sales, led by F-150 and Maverick hybrid trucks, posted third quarter sales of 34,861 vehicles – up 41.4 percent over last year. F-150 Hybrid sales expanded 46.9 percent on sales of 12,311 trucks. Maverick Hybrid now represents 56.5 percent of all Maverick trucks sold. Third quarter Maverick sales totaled 23,931 trucks, an increase of 83.4 percent over last year. Escape Hybrid and plug-in hybrid sales are overwhelmingly selling on pre-sold customer orders.
The company will continue to adapt its EV offerings to remain competitive in the rapidly evolving market.
Ford’s commercial vans have been a source of strength through the entire year and Q3 was no exception. Transit van sales climbed 28.3 percent on sales of 34,006 vans. Transit continues as America’s No. 1 selling commercial van in the third quarter and year-to-date with a total of 98,052 vans sold – up 43.5 percent from a year ago.
Lincoln closed the quarter up on the strength of Corsair, Nautilus, and Navigator. While Aviator sales were impacted due to the 360-degree camera recall, parts are starting to arrive at retail stores for new customer vehicles.
Navigator Q3 sales expanded 46.0 percent on sales of 4,527 SUVs, while sales of the new Lincoln Corsair produced an increase of 25.9 percent for the quarter. Nautilus also realized strong gains with a 32.4 percent increase over the third quarter of last year.
Customer usage of BlueCruise, Ford’s hands-free highway driving technology, has now surpassed 125 million cumulative hands-free driven miles, a 33 percent increase since the end of the second quarter. In the third quarter, the latest version – BlueCruise 1.3 – started shipping on the Mustang Mach-E to customers and rolling out via a software update to existing Mustang Mach-E owners (2021-2023 model year).
Ford’s all-new 2024 Mustang went on sale in August. For the third quarter, Mustang sales totaled 9,844 cars, with its first full month of sales in September. Sixty-seven percent of Mustang’s third quarter sales came in September on sales of 6,575, providing momentum going into the fourth quarter. The all-new Mustang is turning on dealer lots in just six days.
