Ford’s new vehicle sales in August were weaker than expected

Detroit – Ford Motor On Friday, its U.S. sales rose by double digits last month from a year ago, but fell about 4% from the previous month as the company and the auto industry continue to manage significant supply chain issues.

The Detroit automaker reported August sales of 158,088 new vehicles in the U.S., a 27% increase from the company’s production in August 2021. And sales suffered significantly Due to shortage of semiconductor chips. Sales were down last month 3.6% compared to July including an 8% decline in its F-Series pickup trucks.

However, those sales were in line with analysts’ expectations. The company said its Ford brand was America’s best-selling brand for the second month in a row.

Sales of Ford’s lucrative F-series pickups are up 1.7% from August 2021, but down 10.7% in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period last year. The company has sold 6,842 models Its all-electric F-150 Lightning Last month, including 2,373 vehicles, Aug. Pickup until 31st.

“The F-Series is the best-selling truck in America, the best-selling hybrid truck and the best-selling electric truck, along with the F-150 Lightning. Ford’s overall electric vehicle portfolio expanded fourfold in July, while beating competitors at a rate of more than 60%,” said Ford Sales. , Andrew Frick, vice president of distribution and trucks, said in a release.

Ford’s 2022 electric vehicle sales totaled more than 36,500 units as of August. That includes sales of about 5,900 vehicles in August, down 23% from the previous month but up 300% from a year ago.

Year-to-date sales of all Ford vehicles, including its luxury Lincoln brand, totaled more than 1.2 million through August, down 0.2% from a year earlier. At the end of last month, the automaker’s US vehicle inventory, including dealer stock and vehicles in-transit, stood at about 259,000 units, up from 254,000 in July.

According to JD Power and LMC Automotive estimates, US new vehicle sales reached 980,000 units last month, which would be 2.6% lower than in August 2021 – the first month the auto industry’s vehicle inventories were significantly affected by continued shortages of semiconductor chips.

RBC Capital Markets said the seasonally adjusted annual rate for new vehicles, or SAAR, was 13.4 million, slightly above its forecast of 13.2 million and in line with July’s 13.5 million. SAAR is a metric closely watched by analysts and investors.