Ford's April sales dip, but hybrid shipments surge
Ford (F) reported April US sales that dipped slightly, but saw continued strength with hybrid and truck sales, highlighting the automaker’s pivot into those vehicles.
For the month, Ford sold 178,588 vehicles, down 2.4% compared to last year, though there was one less selling day this April. However, Ford sales are still up 4.2% for the year. Ford’s hybrid sales jumped 60% compared to a year ago to nearly 18K units, powered by big shipments of the Maverick pickup and the all-new F-150 hybrid.
“Sales of the new F-150 hybrid set a new monthly sales record — up 93.6% — making F-150 hybrid America’s No. 1 selling full-size hybrid pickup for the month,” said Jim Baumbick, Ford vice president of product development, operations, and quality, to Yahoo Finance. Ford shares were up 2% in midday trade following April's results.
The F-150 hybrid sales, along with sales of the hybrid Maverick pickup, powered Ford to another hybrid sales record in April. Maverick hybrid pickup sales jumped 63.5% to 6,401 trucks, and year-to-date overall Maverick sales have hit 26,061 trucks — up 73.2%. “Maverick is bringing new customers into the Ford brand with a conquest rate of 59% last year, with the majority of buyers coming from the small utility segment,“ Baumbick said.
Ford says hybrid momentum is likely to keep up.
“We expect this growth in hybrids to continue. Over the current five-year business plan period, US hybrid sales are expected to more than quadruple,” Baumbick said. “We plan to offer hybrid choices across 80% of our US lineup in four years.”
Baumbick notes its hybrid customers don’t have to change their vehicle usage behavior like they would with EVs, plus hybrids still offer good gas mileage.
Ford’s full EV sales are still climbing too. EV sales were up nearly 130% in April, to just over 8K units. Mustang Mach-E (up 205%) and F-150 Lightning (up 57%) are still seeing sales growth, however Ford has had to increase incentives to move the vehicles off dealer lots.
A down note for Ford: its SUV sales, in particular its Bronco Sport, Bruno, and Escape crossover. A Ford representative noted that Explorer sales (which were up in the month) were affected by a dealer sell-down to clear out inventory but should improve, and a new full-size Expedition on the way will boost SUV sales.
As for its cash cow truck business, Ford’s overall truck sales were up 2% due to strong sales of the aforementioned Maverick. However, F-150 sales were down 7% as the automaker ramps up production of the all-new for 2024 pickup after sales were delayed due to a quality issue.
Ford’s April sales data comes on the heels of slight sales misses by rivals Hyundai and Kia, though Honda saw its overall US sales climb 3.2% in the month. Ford’s Big Three rivals GM and Stellantis do not report monthly sales results.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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