Electric Ford F-150 Lightning
Andrew Evers/CNBC
DETROIT – Ford Motor on Tuesday reported a slight increase in new car sales for the second quarter, missing auto analysts’ expectations.
The company said second-quarter sales rose 1.8% year over year to 483,688 new vehicles, but noted that results improved in June and were up 31.5% for the month. Analysts had expected the Detroit automaker’s sales to rise between 3.3% and 5.1%.
Ford sales slightly outperformed the industry during the quarter as overall sales were forecast to decline between 19% and 21% from the prior-year period. Automakers have been scrambling to rebuild inventories at dealers, who have been hit hard by production cuts amid global shortages of semiconductor chips and other essential automotive components.
Ford shares hit a 52-week low Tuesday morning. The stock traded at about $10.75 per share, down about 5%. The automaker’s shares are down nearly 46% in 2022.
Ford was significantly hit by chip shortages a year ago, largely due to a fire at one of its suppliers in Japan that forced production cuts in the first half of 2021.
“Amidst industry-wide supply constraints, Ford has outperformed the industry, driven by strong sales of the F-Series, Explorer and the new Expedition and Navigator SUVs,” said Andrew Frick, Ford’s vice president of sales, distribution and trucks, in a press release .
The company said demand remained strong, with a record-breaking 50% of retail sales coming from customer orders in June, rather than purchases from dealer inventory. Automakers have been pushing customers to order vehicles, which is helping companies better gauge demand and plan accordingly. Ford said its retail sales were up 30.3% year over year last month.
Notably, June sales of Ford F-Series pickups rose to 57,673 units — the highest monthly total in 2022. Sales include the F-150, including an all-electric version, and larger versions of the pickup.
Sales of the company’s electric F-150 Lightning continue to rise. Ford said it has sold 2,296 of the trucks since it went on sale in late May, including 1,837 in June.
According to Ford, sales of its electric vehicles — the F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E and E-Transit — increased 76.6% year over year to total 4,353 for the month.