Ford Motor Co. said its new vehicle sales rose 10 percent in the three months from April to June due to strong demand for trucks.
The automaker sold 531,662 motor vehicles, up from 483,688 in the second quarter of this year, with sales of pickups, vans and heavy-duty trucks up 26%. A rise in truck sales more than offset a nearly 3 percent decline in electric vehicle sales.
Ford sold 14,843 battery-powered cars and trucks in the quarter, down from 15,273 a year earlier. The company has had to slow production to upgrade assembly lines and increase its ability to produce more vehicles later this year.
The upgrade work primarily affected the Mustang Mach-E, whose second-quarter sales fell 21 percent. Ford also sold 4,466 of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup during the quarter. That’s more than double the year-ago total and the second-highest quarterly total since the truck hit the market.
On Wednesday, General Motors, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai and Kia all reported gains of 14% or more. Overall, automakers sold more than 4 million cars and trucks in the second quarter, up 15% from a year earlier, according to market research firm Cox Automotive. New vehicle sales remain below pre-pandemic levels as parts shortages forced automakers to reduce vehicle production for much of the past three years.
