Ford (F) reported May US auto sales that jumped considerably, once again powered by hybrid vehicle and truck sales.
For the month, Ford sold 190,014 vehicles, an 11.2% increase from a year ago and up 6.4% sequentially from April. Ford delivered 17,631 hybrid vehicles for the month, driven by the new F-150 hybrid and Maverick hybrid.
The Maverick was a standout, with sales jumping nearly 96% to 13,616 trucks sold in May. The hybrid version of the Maverick saw sales jump 111% to 7,687 trucks. Ford said Maverick pickup and hybrid sales hit a sales record in May.
The all-new F-150 pickup, which saw sales slip earlier this year because of a delayed rollout, rebounded in May. Ford’s overall truck sales climbed 11.2% in May to 109,143, with total pickup sales jumping 7.7% on sales of 87,786 pickups. Ford said sales of the hybrid version of the F-150 rose 51% on sales of 5,766 trucks.
Ford’s recent pivot from EVs to hybrids appears to be paying off on the sales floor, a success that Ford CEO Jim Farley sees sticking around for some time.
"We should stop talking about [hybrid powertrains] as transitional technology," Ford CEO Jim Farley said at Bernstein’s Strategic Decision conference last Thursday.
Ford’s EV sales are still seeing momentum, however. Ford said EV sales totaled 8,966 vehicles in May, up 64.7% year over year. Ford’s EVs are still popular with consumers, with the Mustang Mach-E SUV up 45.9%; F-150 Lightning up 91%, and E-Transit commercial van up 77%.
Though sales of Ford EVs are higher, Ford has increasingly had to use incentives to move the vehicles. Though strong EV sales in May follow an 86% jump in EV sales in Q1, Ford’s EV unit lost $1.32 billion in Q1 and is expected to lose over $5 billion in 2024.
Ford has projected in the past that it sees the EV unit hitting some profit metrics by 2026 but hasn’t updated its timeline recently.
Farley did say this week in an interview on Yahoo Finance’s Opening Bid podcast that he has a date in mind for EV profitability, but he declined to share it.
"We wouldn't allocate capital if I didn’t think it was profitable," he said.
In the meantime, Ford will likely continue to focus on trucks, hybrids, and SUVs. Ford said its SUV sales climbed 7.4% to 67,371 vehicles sold, powered by the full-size Bronco (up 18%), Ford Explorer (up 15.1%), and all-new full-size Expedition (up 16.4%).
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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