Ford sees sales gain in Aug. led by trucks, SUVs

Ford vehicle sales in August rose 13.4% to 182,985 units, led by strong demand for its pickup trucks and SUVs. Ford's year-to-date sales are up 4.3% to 1.4 million units.

Driving the news: All vehicle categories (type and powertrain) grew in August, according to Ford’s sales numbers.

• EV sales jumped 29%, increasing to 8,944 units from 6,490 year-over-year (YoY).

• Hybrid vehicle sales increased by 50% to 16,394 units. 

• But it's the internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles that continue to dominate, with 157,647 units sold, up 10% from last year.

Going deeper: Ford’s trucks were the real standouts, accounting for 103,011 of all vehicles sold last month. The popular F-Series crossed 70,000 units sold (+12% YoY). Ranger sales jumped to 5,660 units, up 173.6% and sales of Ford’s hit compact truck, the Maverick, were up 24% to 10,269 units.   

Of note: Built on the same platform as the Escape and Bronco Sport, the new Maverick will offer a hybrid engine with all-wheel drive for 2025.

Second in line: SUV sales rose 14% to 76,810 units, led by the Explorer (+97%), the Bronco Sport (+9%), and the Escape (+10%).  

Luxury dive: The Lincoln nameplate saw a sales increase of 49% YoY driven by demand for the Nautilus and Aviator. Nearly half of the models sold were hybrids.

Big picture: Despite elevated prices and interest rates, U.S. auto sales have held steady in 2024, but they’re not hitting the highs many expected at the start of the year. Motor Intelligence reported a 15.1 million SAAR in August compared with 16 million in July. 

Bottom line: While Ford's diverse lineup is seeing gains across multiple segments, the broader market conditions remain uncertain, and the remainder of 2024 will be critical.

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