Ford Motor Co. F has witnessed an increase of 27.3% year over year in its August U.S. sales. The automaker reported sales of 158,088 new vehicles for the month. This includes Ford sales of 151,695 vehicles, up 27.5% and Lincoln sales of 6,393 vehicles, up 24%.
The Ford brand has become America’s best-selling brand for the second consecutive month.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E has been the company’s top battery electric vehicle, with a volume of 3,120 units in August, shooting up 115% year over year. Also, the company reopened reservations for its 2023 model of Mustang Mach-E after a four-month suspension on the grounds of short supply.
However, the news of the reopening of order banks followed the announcement of the price increase of the battery-electric SUV in light of ongoing headwinds like material cost rises and supply chain snags.
Sales from Ford trucks came at 83,347 units in August, rising 13.2% year over year.
F-Series pickups saw sales of more than 1.7% in the given month but fell 10.7% year to date compared with the same period last year. The company sold 6,842 models of the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup as of Aug 31, including 2,373 vehicles solely in August. F-Series was featured as America’s best-selling truck, best-selling hybrid truck and best-selling electric truck in the month with theall-electric F-150 Lightning, that gave a tremendous run, in merely eight days after hitting dealership lots, the fastest current rate for any Ford vehicle. Bronco and Maverick followed suit.
Ford Bronco sales climbed 268% year over year to 10,032 units in August, burgeoning more than 1000% year to date compared with the same period last year. Sales from Bronco fueled Ford brand SUV sales and pushed it up 50.4% from a year ago to 64,808 SUVs.
It is to be noted that Ford EV sales totaled more than 36,500 units through August, comprising nearly 5,900 vehicles in the month, skyrocketing 307% year over year. After the roaring success of its all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck, it is believed that the company is again working on a new electric truck, per a report. The second model is expected to hit the market in 2025. Although not much detail came to light, the new EV truck is confirmed to be rolled out alongside Ford Explorer, the Mustang Mach-E and the F-150 Lightning.
For quite some time now, Ford has been gearing itself up to make a mark in the top rung of the EV ladder. With announcements regarding a spate of battery sourcing initiatives targeting to launch an all-electric Explorer SUV by the end of 2024 and probable electric versions of the Bronco SUV and Maverick compact pickup, it is going the extra mile to bolster its position. The August sales are a clear indication that its efforts are bearing fruit.
The Ford hybrids sales reached a milestone of 7,302 vehicles in August, marking a 9% increase year over year. Ford’s share of the hybrid vehicle segment stands at 13% year to date.
The company also saw strength in retail demand and orders for 2023MY vehicles, which totaled more than 76,000, up 41% from 2022MY vehicle orders. This was the fifth month when more than 50% of Ford retail sales were generated from previously placed orders.
In August 2021, Ford’s U.S. sales shrunk more than a third year over year when it brought about production curbs due to the global microchip shortage and acute low levels of inventory faced by dealerships.
The picture looks healthier a year later. Moreover, recently Ford announced its decision to downsize 3,000 salaried and contractual workers as part of cost reduction and restructuring efforts. Also, the automaker’s U.S. vehicle inventory, including dealer stock and in-transit vehicles, at 259,000 units in August, up from 254,000 in July.
Ford’s robust results were mainly led by a combination of all the factors and the exemplary EV sales that increased from a modest performance a year ago. An improvement in deliveries of trucks and SUVs was also a contributing factor.
Although sales boomed year over year, it was down nearly 4% on a monthly basis, hurt by the long-drawn semiconductor crisis and supply-chain bottlenecks that have been pounding the auto industry. However, the fall in sales was something that analysts had predicted, factoring in the market volatility.
Despite the blotch, there are enough reasons to believe that Ford is on a trajectory of long-term growth.
Shares of Ford have gained 17.6% over the past year against its industry’s decline of 4.6%.
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Zacks Rank & Key Picks
F carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), currently.
Better-ranked players in the auto space include Genuine Parts Company GPC, LCI Industries LCII and BorgWarner BWA, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), currently. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Genuine Parts has an expected earnings growth rate of 15.3% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has remaind constant in the past 30 days.
Genuine Parts’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters. GPC pulled off a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 11.03%, on average. The stock has risen 28.7% in the past year.
LCI Industries has an expected earnings growth rate of 68.1% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has been revised 1.3% upward in the past 30 days.
LCI Industries’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters. LCII pulled off a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 26.48%, on average. The stock has declined 16.5% over the past year.
BorgWarner has an expected earnings growth rate of 2.9% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has been revised 5.2% upward in the past 30 days.
BorgWarner’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters. BWA pulled off a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 29.45%, on average. The stock has declined 14.2% over the past year.
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