Ford Motor Co.'s saw its U.S. sales slide in November, but it notched a significant milestone in its electrification strategy: it became the No. 2 brand and manufacturer in electric-vehicle sales behind industry leader Tesla Inc.
The Dearborn automaker sold 146,364 new vehicles last month, down 7.8% from November 2021. Truck sales of 81,210 units were down 1.2%, while SUV sales of 61,889 units were off 15% from a year ago.
But the Blue Oval continues to see momentum around its initial portfolio of battery-electric vehicles, with sales in that segment up more than 100% to 6,255 vehicles in November. Ford said that its EV sales grew at roughly double the rate of the segment overall last month as its market share in the segment climbed to 8.6%. The automaker is working to ramp up EV production to meet goals of producing 600,000 EVs annually by the end of next year and 2 million annually by the end of 2025 as part of its bid to take leadership of a segment that to date has been dominated by Tesla.
Ford beat out Hyundai-Kia for the No. 2 EV position. Still, Tesla remains far ahead of its competitors.
Ford has sold 53,752 EVs in the U.S. this year through November, counting sales of the F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E and E-Transit. Tesla does not provide regional breakdowns of its sales.
However, a report released earlier this week by S&P Global Mobility on Tesla's market share sheds some light. Of the more than 525,000 EVs that were registered in the U.S. over the first nine months of 2022, nearly 340,000 were Teslas, according to the report. The firm reported that new entrants in the EV market are starting to chip away at Tesla's share, which slipped from 79% in 2020 to 65% this year.
Ford reported selling 2,062 units in November of the all-electric F-150 Lightning, which was one of the first battery-electric pickups to launch in the U.S. earlier this year and so far is the best-selling with a total of 13,258 sales. Sales of the electric Mustang Mach-E were up 14.6% year-over-year, to 3,589, in November — and Ford reported this week that global production of the crossover SUV has now topped 150,000 units.
Ford said that F-Series sales are on track for the pickup lineup to retain its long-running title as the best-selling truck in America. The Blue Oval's flagship truck franchise saw sales slide 8.7% year-over-year in November to 55,169 units. Sales of the Ranger pickup were down 68.9%, while sales of the Maverick compact pickup were up 188.8% from a year ago.
Mustang sales were down 12.1% in November. Ford brand SUVs were down across these nameplates: EcoSport, Bronco Sport, Escape, Edge and Explorer. Sales of the Ford Bronco and Expedition were up.
Sales of Ford's luxury Lincoln brand were down 5% year-over-year in November, though sales of the Corsair and Navigator were up 59.1% and 20.2%, respectively, on improved inventory flow.
Ford's November sales results underperformed the industry as a whole.
U.S. light-vehicle sales came in at 1.1 million units for the month, according to industry forecaster LMC Automotive, marking a 10.5% gain over the same period last year — a period when the auto industry was experiencing the worst of the global semiconductor chip shortage, LMC noted in a Friday press release. And compared to average November results from the past decade, last month was "rather weak," according to the firm.
"November was a rather mixed bag of results, although this is perhaps not surprising given the combination of different factors at play in the light vehicle market at present," David Oakley, LMC's manager of Americas sales forecasts, said in a statement. "While positive year-on-year comparisons always make for a more upbeat mood in the industry, this is less meaningful at the moment due to the anomalous results a year ago."
November's selling rate was one of the better results in 2022, he added, "but is still rather mediocre when we take a longer-term view. While inventory levels are improving, some OEMs are still facing logistical challenges, while consumer confidence is depressed in the context of high inflation."
Oakley noted that LMC estimated that General Motors Co., which does not release monthly sales results, had the strongest year-over-year sales growth in the industry last month, at 42.2%. The Detroit automaker is estimated to have led the market. LMC estimates that Stellantis NV, meanwhile, saw the largest year-over-year decline of major OEMs, with sales down 13.2% year-over-year.
American Honda reported earlier this week that its sales were down 6.1% in November. Hyundai Motor America reported record November sales that were up 43% over November 2021.
For the year, LMC is forecasting U.S. light-vehicle sales of 13.7 million units, an 8% decline from 2021.
Meanwhile, Ford reported that retail orders for 2023 model year vehicles are up 104% compared to orders for 2022 model year vehicles a year ago. The company, which has increasingly emphasized customers placing orders in advance, has 307,000 orders for '23 vehicles. Andrew Frick, vice president of sales, distribution and trucks for Ford Blue, said in a statement that growth in the order bank is being driven by demand for the Super Duty and Maverick trucks. Super Duty has notched a record 152,000 orders since they opened in late October.
Year to date, Ford's sales are down 2.7%.
