Ford sales jump 14% in the second quarter, well above industry forecast
New vehicle sales for the second quarter totaled 612,095, led in part by gains in its F-Series trucks and 'electrified' vehicles, which includes hybrids and EVs.
F-Series trucks saw their best second quarter since 2019, climbing 11.5% to 222,459. New pickup sales overall totaled 288,564 for the quarter, Ford said.
Sales of Ford electrified vehicles totaled 82,886 during the second quarter, up 6.6% from 2024. But of those 'electrified' vehicles, pure EVs saw a 31.4% drop, while hybrids were up 23.5%.
For the first half of the year, Ford sold a record 156,509 EVs and hybrids, up 14.7% from the same time last year.
Auto industry forecasters Cox Automotive and Edmunds forecasted new vehicle sales would increase 1.7% and 2%, respectively, for the second quarter from the year-earlier period. They cited a strong market in April and early May as driving the increases, while June sales were expected to be softer.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump implemented 25% tariffs on imported vehicles and many auto parts imported into the U.S. The levies initially pulled forward demand from price-conscious buyers, but analysts expect that increase in demand to fade if higher prices take hold.
Rival General Motors reported a 7.3% sales increase for the second quarter and a nearly 12% increase for the first half of 2025. The automaker credited its growth to sales within its trucks, crossovers, EVs and gains in the luxury market led by Cadillac.
South Korean automakers Kia and Hyundai both reported their best-ever first-half sales results on Tuesday, up 8% and 10% from a year ago, respectively.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Dollar wallows near 3-1/2-year low as Fed cuts, Trump bill in focus
TOKYO, July 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar hunkered near the lowest since February 2022 against major peers on Wednesday, as traders considered dovish hints from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, along with the potential impact of President Donald Trump's spending bill. The greenback was pinned near its weakest since September 2021 on the euro, and was at its lowest since January 2015 versus the Swiss franc. Powell reiterated on Tuesday at the European Central Bank's annual conference in Sintra, Portugal that the Fed is taking a patient approach to further interest rate cuts, but didn't rule out a reduction at this month's meeting, saying everything depends on incoming data. That raises the stakes for the monthly non-farm payrolls report on Thursday. Indications of labour market resilience in the U.S. JOLTS figures overnight saw the dollar rise off Tuesday's lows. The dollar index , which measures the currency against six major counterparts, edged up slightly to 96.677, but didn't stray far from the overnight low of 96.373. Markets are also keeping a close watch on Trump's massive tax-and-spending bill, which could add $3.3 trillion to the national debt. The bill, which was passed by the U.S. Senate, will return to the House for final approval. "The confirmation that this is an increase in issuance, an increase in government spending well beyond its means, is not necessarily good news for the Treasury market, and it's arguably one of the reasons the dollar's going down," said Rodrigo Catril, a strategist at National Australia Bank. Also weighing on the U.S. currency has been Trump's continued attacks on Powell, putting Fed independence in the spotlight. On Monday, the President sent the Fed Chair a list of global central bank key rates adorned with handwritten commentary saying the U.S. rate should be between Japan's 0.5% and Denmark's 1.75%, and telling him he was "as usual, 'too late.'" The greenback held steady at 0.7906 Swiss franc , after dipping as low as 0.7873 franc in the previous session. The euro was flat at $1.1802, sticking close to the overnight peak of $1.1829. Sterling edged up slightly to $1.37435, approaching Tuesday's high of $1.3787, a level last seen in October 2021. The dollar made up a little ground against the yen , adding 0.1% to 143.59 yen, following the prior session's 0.4% slide.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Donald Trump's 'colossal mistake' BLASTED by Obama and Bush during surprise reunion that left Bono in tears
Barack Obama and George W. Bush united to slam Donald Trump in a farewell Monday with staffers of USAID, with Obama calling the DOGE-assisted dismantling of the agency 'a colossal mistake.' Monday was the last day of independence for the six-decade-old humanitarian and development organization, created by President John F. Kennedy as a peaceful way of promoting U.S. national security by boosting goodwill and prosperity abroad. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered USAID - which Trump infamously called a 'left-wing scam' - absorbed into the State Department on Tuesday. The former presidents and U2 singer and activist Bono spoke with thousands in the USAID community in a videoconference, which was billed as a closed-press event to allow political leaders and others privacy for sometimes angry and often teary remarks. They expressed their appreciation for the thousands of USAID staffers who have lost their jobs and life's work. Their agency was one of the first and most fiercely targeted for government-cutting by the president and his billionaire ally Elon Musk 's Department of Government Efficiency, with staffers abruptly locked out of systems and offices and terminated by mass emailing. Trump claimed the agency was run by 'radical left lunatics' and rife with 'tremendous fraud.' Musk called it 'a criminal organization.' Obama, speaking in a recorded statement, offered assurances to the aid and development workers, some listening from overseas. 'Your work has mattered and will matter for generations to come,' he told them. Obama has largely kept a low public profile during Trump´s second term and refrained from criticizing the monumental changes that Trump has made to U.S. programs and priorities at home and abroad. 'Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it´s a tragedy. Because it´s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world,' Obama said. He credited USAID with not only saving lives, but being a main factor in global economic growth that has turned some aid-receiving countries into U.S. markets and trade partners. The former Democratic president predicted that 'sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realize how much you are needed.' Asked for comment, the State Department said it would be introducing the department´s foreign assistance successor to USAID, to be called America First, this week. 'The new process will ensure there is proper oversight and that every tax dollar spent will help advance our national interests,' the department said. USAID had provided over 40 per cent of global humanitarian funding until Trump returned to the White House in January. But two weeks into his second term, Trump's then-close advisor and former head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk, announced that they had put the agency 'through the woodchipper'. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio then revealed the sweeping cuts in March, saying that 5,200 of the 6,200 USAID programs had been stopped. At the time it was slashed, USAID represented 0.3 percent of all US federal spending. After USAID was gutted, several other major donors including Germany, the UK and France followed suit in announcing plans to slash their foreign aid budgets. USAID oversaw programs around the world, providing water and life-saving food to millions uprooted by conflict in Sudan, Syria, Gaza and elsewhere. They also sponsored the 'Green Revolution' that revolutionized modern agriculture and curbed starvation and famine, preventing disease outbreaks, promoting democracy, and providing financing and development that allowed countries and people to climb out of poverty. Bush, who also spoke in a recorded message, went straight to the cuts in a landmark AIDS and HIV program started by his Republican administration and credited with saving 25 million lives around the world. Bipartisan blowback from Congress to cutting the popular President´s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, helped save significant funding for the program. But cuts and rule changes have reduced the number getting the life-saving care. 'You´ve showed the great strength of America through your work - and that is your good heart,´´ Bush told USAID staffers. 'Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you,' he said. Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, former Colombian President Juan Manual Santos and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield also spoke to the staffers. So did humanitarian workers, including one who spoke of the welcome appearance of USAID staffers with food when she was a frightened 8-year-old child in a camp for Liberian refugees. A World Food Program official vowed through sobs that the U.S. aid mission would be back someday. Bono, a longtime humanitarian advocate in Africa and elsewhere, was announced as the 'surprise guest,' in shades and a cap. He jokingly hailed the USAID staffers as 'secret agents of international development' in acknowledgment of the down-low nature of Monday´s unofficial gathering of the USAID community. Bono spoke passionately as he recited a poem he had written to the agency and its gutting. He spoke of children dying of malnutrition, in a reference to people - millions, experts have said - who will die because of the U.S cuts to funding for health and other programs abroad. 'They called you crooks. When you were the best of us,' Bono said.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Trump says he won't extend July 9 trade deadline, expresses doubt on Japan deal
WASHINGTON, July 1 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was not thinking of extending the July 9 deadline for countries to negotiate trade deals with the U.S., and continued to express doubt that an agreement could be reached with Japan. "We've dealt with Japan. I'm not sure we're going to make a deal. I doubt it," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from a trip to Florida. Trump suggested he could impose a tariff of "30% or 35% or whatever the number is that we determine" on imports from Japan - well above the 24% tariff rate he announced on April 2 and then later paused.
