Ford reports 1st quarter total sales fell 1.3% as it ended production of some models
Ford Motor Co. reported Tuesday that total U.S. new vehicle sales dropped by 1.3% to 501,291 vehicles in the first quarter compared with the year-ago period.
The drop was due mostly to the timing on Ford's rental fleet sales, making the comparison against the year-ago period tougher, and its discontinuation of the popular Ford Edge SUV and Transit Connect van. Ford stopped production of the Edge in April last year. Ford ended the small Transit Connect after the 2023 model year.
On a retail sales-only basis, Ford reported sales rose 5% for the quarter. It was driven by a surge in sales last month, the automaker said. Industry experts have reported some sales growth last month as consumers tried to get in front of the 25% tariffs on imported cars and parts set to take effect later this week.
"As we expected of most automakers, Ford's increase in March makes a lot of sense given a new sense of urgency by consumers to buy before tariffs go into action," Erin Keating, executive analyst at Cox Automotive, told the Free Press on Tuesday. "Additionally, this time of year is typically a higher performing period as they don't call it the spring bounce for nothing."
Morningstar Equity Strategist David Whiston said most automakers will have benefited from a March bounce in sales as consumers wanting to buy before tariffs hit.
"So even if the numbers are awesome, it may not matter much in a few months once non-tariffed inventory is sold off dealer lots," Whiston told the Free Press.
General Motors also reported Tuesday that its first quarter sales rose 17% compared with the same period last year. GM sold 693,363 vehicles in the first quarter in the U.S., compared with a 1.5% slide one year ago to 594,233 vehicles sold. GM's sales of all electric cars increased 94% to 31,887, making GM the second-largest seller of electric vehicles in the U.S. behind Tesla.
Stellantis was also expected to report first-quarter sales results Tuesday.
At Ford, the Dearborn-based automaker reported sales of its electrified vehicles and pickups supported most of its gains.
In March, F-Series pickup sales rose 38%, driving a first-quarter boost of 24% on sales of 190,389 pickups. When adding sales of the midsize Ranger and smaller Maverick pickups, Ford's total pickup sales came in at 243,317 in the quarter.
Ford said total truck sales, which include its vans and pickups, soared 15% to 290,387 vehicles sold in the quarter compared with the year-ago quarter.
A standout star was the compact pickup Maverick. With improved availability, it delivered an all-time monthly sales record of 19,008 sold in March, Ford said. For the quarter, total Maverick sales were down slightly at 2.7% to 38,015 compared with 39,061 a year earlier.
More: The comeback story of Ford's Ranger pickup and the push to top Toyota Tacoma global sales
Cox's Keating said the March surge in Maverick sales makes sense given Ford builds the Maverick at its Hermosillo Assembly plant in Mexico, alongside the Bronco Sport. Both vehicles are then sold in North America and South America. The Maverick is one of Ford's products that could see a price hike because of the 25% tariffs President Donald Trump plans to impose starting Thursday on imported vehicles and parts.
"It's a great thing for consumers to have the affordable pickup in stock and to see improved availability," Keating said of the Maverick, which starts at $26,995. "An all-time monthly record for the vehicle reminds us to keep an eye out on some of the most popular, and affordable models as things unfold with tariffs."
Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities remarked on Ford's results, "These are relatively strong numbers for Ford as the F-series showed solid demand in this uncertain backdrop. We would characterize these results as a step in the right direction for (CEO) Jim Farley and Ford."
Sales of Ford's electrified vehicles — which includes EVs and hybrids — rose by 25.5% in the quarter to 73,623 sold. Ford said In the first quarter, its electrified vehicles represented 15% of total sales — up 3 percentage points over the same period last year.
In January, Ford said that it would extend its program that offers customers who buy or lease an electric vehicle a free home charger and complimentary installation through the end of March. The automaker said this program helped boost Ford's fourth-quarter EV sales. Called the "Ford Power Promise," customers who purchased or leased a Ford Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning or E-Transit Cargo Van customers are eligible.
Ford reported it sold 22,550 all-electric vehicles, an 11.5% boost from the year-ago quarter. Ford sold 51,073 hybrid models, a whopping 33% increase from a year earlier. Again, the Maverick was a standout, beginning the year as a bestselling hybrid pickup. Of Maverick's total sales of 38,015, the hybrid powertrain comprised 21,414 sales.
Dealers have said the Mustang Mach-E is a hot seller, but hard to get. Ford said it sold 11,607 of the electric SUVs, up 21% from a year-ago, despite limited inventory. On Tuesday, Ford reassured dealers, saying 2025 Mustang Mach-E SUVs are in transit and will make their way to dealer lots in April.
Sales of E-Transit electric vans rose 30% in the quarter totaling 3,756, Ford said.
Ford SUV sales declined by 16.7% to 201,527 vehicles sold. The biggest part of that decline came from the discontinuation of the Ford Edge. Ford reported it sold 2,078 Edges in the quarter, a 94% decline from 35,157 of the SUVs sold in the year-ago period.
Sales of the Expedition and Explorer were also down in the quarter. Ford sold 47,314 Explorers, a 19% decline. It reported selling 13,482 Expedition SUVs, a 37.5% decline.
Sales of the Bronco, Bronco Sport, Escape and Mach-E were all up in the quarter. Sales of the Bronco line, including Bronco Sport, totaled 65,958 SUVs, a 19% gain over last year.
Ford reported its luxury brand, Lincoln, saw sales decline by 4.7% to 23,731 vehicles sold in the quarter compared with the year-ago period. Sales of the Navigator rose 29.8% to 4,058 in the quarter and sales of the Corsair were almost flat at 6,240 vehicles sold.
Finally, Ford said its Ford Pro Intelligence software platform now has nearly 674,000 active subscriptions, based on end of first quarter estimates, up 20% year-over-year.
Also customer usage of BlueCruise, the hands-free highway driving technology, at the end of the first quarter, reached about 5 million "cumulative hands-free highway hours driven across Ford and Lincoln."
Ford said its dealers provided more than 3.8 million remote service experiences to customers last year and the momentum continued into the first quarter, with services up 11%. These include Mobile Service — in which technicians drive to service a customer's vehicle. It also includes pickup and delivery where a dealer employee picks up, services and returns a customer's vehicle to the customer.
Dealers have provided more than 503,822 Mobile Service experiences during the first quarter, a 14.5% increase from a year ago.
More: Wall Street increases range of estimated new car price hike due to tariffs
Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford: 1st quarter total sales dip 1.3% as it ends some production
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