Ford was America’s best-selling brand in the second quarter of 2023 on the strength of its trucks, EVs and new vehicle launches, posting sales gains of 11.2% for the quarter.
Ford is now the best-selling brand and has the best-selling truck in America for six consecutive months this year. F-Series has been the best-selling truck in America for 46 years in a row.
Ford truck sales accelerated in Q2, climbing 26.2% on the strength of the new Super Duty and improved inventory flow. This is the second straight quarterly gain for Ford and best Q2 sales performance since pre-COVID 2019.
Ford was the No. 1 selling truck manufacturer in Q2 and for the first half of the year. Sales climbed 26.2% in Q2. Through the first half of 2023, Ford’s overall truck sales totaled 549,625, up 23.1% and outselling GM’s trucks and vans by approximately 61,000 trucks.
Ford EV Sales Gain Momentum
Ford’s EV sales continue to grow building on the sales momentum of the F-150 Lightning and Mach-E, which achieved higher sales through stronger inventory.
“Ford achieved both best-selling brand and truck for six consecutive months this year on the strength of F-Series, vans, our new Escape and F-150 Lightning,” said Andrew Frick, vice president, sales distribution, and trucks. “Our EV sales continue to grow. Improved Mustang Mach-E inventory flow began to hit at the end of Q2 following the retooling of our plant earlier this year, which helped Mustang Mach-E sales climb 110 percent in June.”
F-150 Lightning sales were up 119% in Q2 over year ago and a 4.1% gain from Q1. F-150 Lightning continues to attract new customers to Ford with 50% new to the brand, based on most recent conquest data. Year-to-date, Ford EV sales rose 11.9%. Ford’s overall EV sales were up 35.5% in June.
With the launch of Ford’s all-new Super Duty pickup and chassis cabs, F-Series sales increased 34% increase in Q2 on sales of 212,516 F-Series trucks. That’s up 24.7% from the first quarter. F-Series total industry share hit almost 36% in Q2---up almost 5 full percentage points over Q2 last year.
Through the first half of this year, F-Series remains America’s best-selling truck on sales of 382,893 trucks---outselling second-place Silverado by approximately 118,000 trucks. Ford Maverick sales increased 7.8% in Q2 ahead of additional capacity coming online in July to meet continued strong customer demand.
Combined F-Series, Ranger and Maverick sales of 246,155 pickups outsold all of GM’s Silverado, Sierra, Colorado, Canyon and Hummer EV in Q2 of this year. Ford’s combined sales of F-Series, Ranger and Maverick were up 26.7% in Q2 over a year ago.
The strength of Ford’s vans continued to shine for the quarter. Transit continued as America’s best-selling van in Q2 on sales of 32,031---up 30.1%, compared to year ago. Ford E-Series vans increased 63.7% in Q2 and are up 55.7% this year. Ford was No. 1 in commercial sales, based on the most recent registration data through April. Ford’s U.S. Class 1-7 commercial trucks and vans share grew to 40.3%, up 1.0 percentage point from the same period a year ago.
Meanwhile, Lincoln closed the quarter with sales gains thanks to improved inventory. Navigator Q2 sales increased 20.1% on sales of 4,688 vehicles, while sales of the new Lincoln Corsair climbed 27% in June to end the quarter. Nautilus sales also saw a 58.5% increase in June at the end of Q2.
BlueCruise, Ford’s driver assist technology, continues to be a hit with customers. Customer usage has now surpassed 90 million hands-free driven miles, cumulatively, a 40% increase since the end of Q1. Ford’s latest version of the technology, BlueCruise 1.2, allows hands-free lane changes with the tap of a turn signal and delivers a more seamless driving experience. Ford will continue to improve the BlueCruise experience for its customers and deliver it through over-the-air updates.
Sales of the new Escape were up 28.7% in Q2. Forty percent of Escape Q2 sales are the new ST-Line series. Nearly half of the Escape Plug-in Hybrid customers are new to Ford.
Source: Ford
