Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn reported a sales increase of 7 percent for the first quarter of 2024, with hybrid sales up 42 percent.
According to Ford, customers are showing an increasing preference for hybrid trucks and SUVs. The preference helped Ford achieve its best-ever quarterly hybrid sales. Overall, Ford sold 38,421 hybrid vehicles in the first quarter. Hybrid growth is expected to continue as more versions of the new F-150 hybrid are delivered to dealers.
Ford Maverick was America’s top selling hybrid truck in the first quarter, continuing to bring new customers to the Ford brand. Maverick Hybrid sales were up 77 percent over a year ago on sales of 19,660.
“With the new F-150 and all-new Ranger sales beginning in March along with the strong performance of our all-new Lincoln Nautilus and Nautilus Hybrid, we’re in a strong position to capitalize and grow as we move through 2024,” says Andrew Frick, president, Ford Blue. “And that’s before customers experience services like pickup and delivery and mobile service — now totaling 250,000 U.S. experiences a month — and technologies like BlueCruise.”
The F-Series sold a total of 152,943 vehicles in the first quarter. Super Duty sales in the first quarter were up 23 percent from a year ago. Total Maverick sales for the same time totaled 39,061 – up 82 percent over last year. Nearly 60 percent of Maverick buyers are new to the Ford brand.
Ford brand SUVs posted an all-time best quarter with total sales of 216,997 — up 15 percent over last year. Ford SUVs were led by Explorer with 58,465 sales, making Explorer America’s best-selling three-row SUV. Escape sales were up 73 percent on sales of 36,595 SUVs. Bronco Sport had a gain of 6 percent from sales of 31,565 and Expedition sales gained 11 percent.
And at Lincoln, sales accelerated 31 percent to 24,894. The all-new Lincoln Nautilus began the first quarter with total sales of 9,231 SUVs – up 68 percent over a year ago. This represents a new quarterly sales record since the nameplate went on sale in 2018. Sales of Lincoln’s Corsair increased 56 percent and Aviator was up 19 percent.
Ford sold 20,223 EVs in the first quarter, making Ford America’s second best-selling EV brand behind Tesla for the quarter. Mustang Mach-E posted strong sales of 9,589 SUVs — up 77 percent over a year ago.
The F-150 Lightning had sales of 7,743 trucks, up 80 percent. The Ford E-Transit was America’s best-selling electric van on sales of 2,891 — up 148 percent over the first quarter of 2023. It was the best-ever sales quarter for E-Transit since it went on sale in 2022.
In other Ford news, the company announced today it is retiming the launch of upcoming electric vehicle manufacturing at its Oakville assembly plant in Ontario. The move is meant to give Ford time to build an advanced industrial system to produce its next-generation electric vehicles, including greenfield construction and conversion of existing assembly plants.
“As the number two EV brand in the U.S. for the past two years, we are committed to scaling a profitable EV business, using capital wisely and bringing to market the right gas, hybrid and fully electric vehicles at the right time,” says Jim Farley, president and CEO of Ford. “Our breakthrough, next-generation EVs will be new from the ground up and fully software enabled, with ever-improving digital experiences and a multitude of potential services.”
The transformation of Oakville Assembly Plant – a comprehensive overhaul of the plant from a gas vehicle assembly plant into an EV manufacturing complex – is set to begin in the second quarter, as planned.
Preparations continue for the market launch of Ford’s all-new three-row electric vehicles at the assembly complex in Oakville, Ontario, which the company will re-time to 2027 from 2025. The additional time will allow for the consumer market for three-row EVs to further develop and enable Ford to take advantage of emerging battery technology, with the goal of providing customers increased durability and better value.
The company is continuing to invest in a broad set of EV programs as it works to build a full EV line-up, says Farley. These initiatives support the development of a differentiated and profitably growing EV business over time while Ford serves customers with the right mix of gas, hybrid and electric vehicles based on demand today.
“We value our Canadian teammates and appreciate that this delay will have an impact on this excellent team,” says Farley. “We are fully committed to manufacturing in Canada and believe this decision will help us build a profitably growing business for the long term.”
The company will work with the Unifor labor union to mitigate the impact the launch delay will have on its workforce at Oakville.
The creation of the BlueOval City campus — Ford’s new advanced auto production complex that includes the Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center assembly plant — is progressing on track, says Farley. In addition to paint shop and vehicle assembly equipment, installation is also underway for nearly 4,000 tons of stamping equipment that will produce the sheet metal stampings for Ford’s next all-new electric truck.
Ford plans to begin customer deliveries of the new truck in 2026 and gradually ramp up production to help assure quality. The Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center will be Ford’s first Industry 4.0 plant, combining automation and connectivity to help elevate quality and efficiency.
