Ford Motor Co. saw sales gains across much of its U.S. lineup in August, fueling growth of 27.3% over the same month last year and outpacing the automotive industry's performance.
The Dearborn automaker sold 158,088 vehicles in the U.S. last month, up from 124,176 in August 2021. It saw gains of 13.2%, 47.7% and 307.3%, respectively, across its truck, SUV and electric vehicle segments.
Ford continues to see strong demand, the company said in a news release. It had 76,000 retail orders for model year 2023 vehicles at the end of the month, up 41% from the number of model year 2022 orders it had a year ago. As the automaker increasingly moves to sell vehicles via orders placed in advance, it reported that for the fifth straight month, more than 50% of its retail sales came from its order bank.
Ford sold 5,897 EVs in August, representing year-over-year growth of more than 307%. Sales of internal combustion engine vehicles, meanwhile, climbed 24.7%. The automaker is aiming to build 600,000 EVs annually by the end of next year, and 2 million annually by 2026.
One of the contributors to the company's EV sales growth is the all-electric F-150 Lightning, which started shipping to customers in April. In August, the F-150 was America's best-selling truck (a title it's held for decades), as well as the country's best-selling hybrid and battery-electric truck.
The Lightning is turning over at dealerships faster than any other Ford vehicle, selling on average in eight days, Ford reported, and its top three conquests are the Ram pickup and Tesla's Model 3 and Model X. The truck had its best month since launching, with 2,373 sales.
E-Transit, an electric version of Ford's popular Transit cargo van that launched earlier this year, had sales of 3,938 units through August.
Ford's flagship F-Series pickup lineup sold 58,283 vehicles in August, up 1.7%.
A 268% increase in Bronco sales helped Ford brand SUV sales notch a 50.4% gain over last August.
Gas-powered Mustang sales were up 56.1% in August, while sales of the all-electric Mustang Mach-E were up 115.5% to 3,120 units.
Across Ford brand SUVs, every model saw sales increase except the Bronco Sport and the Ford Edge. Explorer sales of 19,076 units were up 124.7% year-over-year.
Lincoln, Ford's luxury brand, saw sales increase 24% over August 2021, boosted by gains from its Corsair and Aviator SUVs.
Year-to-date, Ford's sales are basically flat compared to the first eight months of 2021.
