Bronco takes a bite out of Jeep in Q1 while Ford retains grip on truck dominance

Ford Motor Co. claimed dominance in the first quarter of 2023 as a top-selling brand and top-selling truck manufacturer in the United States, driven in part by the popularity of its electric vehicles, according to the company’s sales report released Tuesday.

Total Ford vehicle sales climbed 10.7% to 456,972 vehicles in the first quarter of 2023, compared with a year ago. (That doesn’t include the Lincoln brand, which dropped 1.1% to 18,934.)

Overall sales highlights touted by Ford:

  • Ford brand outsold second place Toyota by more than 50,000 vehicles.
  • Ford trucks were up 19.6% to 254,023, outselling crosstown rival General Motors’ combined truck and van sales by approximately 27,000.
  • F-Series remained the bestselling truck in the U.S., with sales up 21.1% to 170,377 pickups — outpacing Chevrolet Silverado by 46,000 trucks. (F-Series total includes the all-electric Lightning.)
  • Electric vehicle sales overall climbed 40.1% to 10,866.
  • Internal combustion engine sales spiked 10.5% to 437,976.
  • Bronco, designed to be a Jeep Wrangler competitor, climbed 37.6% to 32,430.
  • Ford Expedition surged 99.2% to 19,359.
  • Explorer jumped 35.9% to 58,061 as now the bestselling, three-row midsize SUV.
  • The classic Mustang was up 5.2% to 14,711.

Ford vs. GM, Jeep

By contrast, General Motors reported Monday a sales increase of 17.6% to 603,208 new vehicles sold. GM sold 20,670 electric vehicles, mostly its established Bolt and Bolt EUV — with only two new Hummer pickups and 968 of the new Cadillac Lyriq SUVs.

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Also Monday, Stellantis reported a 9% drop in sales to 368,327 vehicles, with a 20% drop in Jeep and 7% drop in Ram Trucks, offset by 24% growth in Dodge and a 10% gain in Chrysler. Jeep numbers were grim: Wrangler dropped 17% to 37,971; Gladiator, down 24% to 13,575; Jeep Grand Cherokee, 27% to 54,502. Only Jeep Cherokee sales grew, at 31% to 13,213.

Jeep data suggests Ford has been successful in its attempt to break the grip Jeep has had on the off-road market.