Ford's April sales, led by pickups, surged 16% ahead of tariffs

Yahoo

03-05-2025

Ford Motor Co. reported a record sales month for April, with U.S. sales climbing 16% as the company offered employee pricing across its lineup to all customers as uncertainty loomed about President Donald Trump's tariff plans and the prospect that they would soon increase vehicle prices.
Ford reported on May 1 that it sold 208,675 new vehicles in April, compared with 179,588 sold in April 2024. Sales of electrified vehicles, which includes hybrids, rose 8.4% to 28,190, although sales of the all-electric F-150 Lightning, Mach-E and E-Transit trucks dropped, due in part to inventory constraints. Ford's total U.S. sales for 2025 are up 3.2% to 709,966 vehicles sold.
Ford's real sales glory was in trucks, which accounted for nearly half of the company's total sales. Ford said it sold a total of 116,955 trucks, a 19% jump from a year ago April. Ford reported that total sales of its F-Series pickups surged 13% to 72,765 trucks sold. Breaking out retail sales of the F-Series, sales of the pickups rose 17% in April. A Ford spokesman said the company only provides figures for total sales, not retail sales.
The Maverick pickup hit a sales record, Ford said, with sales of 20,183 Mavericks in April, a 67% increase from April 2024. Sales of the Ranger small pickup rose 62% to 7,006 sold for the month.
CEO Jim Farley had suggested the company would have strong April sales following gains in March as well, in part due to the employee pricing sale Ford launched on April 3 — which Ford extended to run through July 4 — but also on the chance that consumers want to get ahead of anticipated price increases once tariffs kick in.
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"We're seeing double digit sales increases since March and April and we ran this employee pricing," Farley told CNN host Erin Burnett on April 30. "There may be a lot of customers going out and buying cars before what they fear is the import tariffs increasing prices. That may be a dynamic. We're certainly seeing our inventories are shrinking at the dealerships."
Meantime, General Motors also said it had a strong April despite low incentives and tight inventory. The automaker does not typically report monthly sales, but GM spokesman Jim Cain told the Detroit Free Press that GM's U.S. sales rose 20% to 267,051 vehicles delivered, also led by strong sales of pickups. Cain said GM sold 82,537 full-sized Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups in April.
Ford did see sales dips in its all-electric vehicles. The F-150 Lightning sales plummeted by 17% to 1,740 sold in April. For the year, Lightning sales are down 9% to 8,927. Sales of the E-Transit also tumbled in April by 81% to 192 sold. Year-to-date, E-Transit sales are flat at 3,948 sold.
Ford spokesman Said Deep said in a statement that 2025 model year changeover for Lightning and Mach-E, as well as low inventory during the changeover, led to sales for both vehicles declining in April. Sales of the Mach-E were down 40% to 2,927 in April. Year-to-date sales are about flat at 14,534.
Deep said that going into April Mach-E and F-150 Lightning were operating nationwide on nine and 19 dealer days' supply, respectively. The industry considers a 60-day supply to be normal.
"With '25 (model year) vehicle now hitting dealer lots as we progressed through April, we are well positioned for a strong May sales month for both electric vehicles," Deep said in the statement.
Ford's total SUV sales for the month increased 10% to 75,183 sold. Sales of the Bronco Sport, built in Mexico, soared 55% to 11,886 sold. The larger Bronco, built in Michigan, sold 14,400 units, a 73% gain. Another volume seller was the Explorer. Ford reported a gain of 9% to 20,989 Explorers sold.
Ford brand sales rose 15% in the month to 197,060 vehicles sold. Ford's luxury brand, Lincoln, saw a 40% gain in sales in April to 11,615 total vehicles sold, led by sales of midsize SUVs: Nautilus and Aviator.
Farley told CNN that the sales offer optimism in the year ahead despite the uncertainty around tariffs.
"Maybe we're in the first or second inning of a nine-inning game. But so far for us ... the revenue has been pretty strong," Farley said. "We report earnings next week and you'll see that as a trend."
Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at [e-mail]. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford reports April sales surged 16% led by pickups