Ford employees produce the electrical F-150 Lightning pickup on Dec. 13, 2022 on the automaker’s Ford Rouge Electrical Car Heart (REVC).
Michael Wayland | CNBC
DETROIT — Ford Motor‘s new U.S. car gross sales began 2023 on a stronger footing than a yr earlier however have been down 18.4% from December, the corporate reported Thursday.
January is traditionally one of many weakest months of the yr, whereas December is one of the strongest. Nonetheless, the month-over-month decline is notable because the worst for the automaker since a 28% drop between Could and June of final yr. Between December 2021 and January 2022, gross sales declined 17.4%.
The automotive business continues to navigate by means of some supply chain and production issues, though the circulation of components and car manufacturing this yr is predicted to be extra constant than in recent times. Morgan Stanley stated Thursday that U.S. auto gross sales final month smashed expectations: It estimated the seasonally adjusted promoting fee at 16.2 million in contrast with expectations of 15.5 million.
For January, Ford reported a 2% improve in gross sales from a yr earlier to 146,356 automobiles bought. The uptick was led by gross sales will increase of 8.8% for F-Collection pickups, 25.5% for Broncos, and 52% for Bronco Sport SUVs — in addition to a doubling of its electrical car gross sales, which have been and stay minimal. EVs made up 3.6% of Ford’s month-to-month gross sales.
Among the automaker’s crossovers such because the Ford Edge and Escape skilled double-digit declines from a yr earlier.
Inventory comparability between Ford, Common Motors and Tesla.
“We’re happy with the sturdy gross sales begin to the yr with our positive aspects being pushed by report electrical car gross sales, F-Collection vans and Broncos,” Ford spokesman Mentioned Depp stated in an electronic mail to CNBC.
Ford’s EV gross sales — a significant focus of Wall Road — elevated to five,247 items in January, led by a roughly 11% improve in gross sales of its electrical Mustang Mach-E crossover. The automaker bought 2,264 items of its electrical F-150 Lightning pickup in January.
Final week Ford announced it was rising manufacturing and chopping costs of the Mach-E, weeks after business chief Tesla introduced related plans for its EVs.
The Mach-E led Ford to turn into the second-bestselling automaker of EVs final yr within the U.S., albeit trailing Tesla by a wide margin. Ford bought greater than 65,000 EVs within the U.S. final yr. Motor Intelligence estimates Tesla, which doesn’t report gross sales by area, bought greater than 522,000 EVs within the U.S. in 2022.
Ford’s January gross sales come forward of the automaker releasing fourth-quarter and 2022 earnings results Thursday after markets shut. In October, Ford confirmed its prior full-year steering of adjusted earnings earlier than curiosity and taxes of between $11.5 billion and $12.5 billion.
— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
