Ford F-150 pickup trucks at a dealership in Colma, Calif. on Friday, July 22, 2022.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
DETROIT – Ford Motors Last month, sales in the United States fell 10% as the automaker grappled with supply chain issues that delayed deliveries to dealerships.
The Detroit automaker reported October sales of 158,327 new vehicles Wednesday, up from nearly 176,000 units sold in the same month a year earlier. It was the second straight month of year-on-year declines following two months of double-digit increases on subdued sales constrained by semiconductor shortages.
Ford’s October sales were well below those of the industry as a whole. Edmunds reports that overall auto sales rose 9.1% from a year earlier to nearly 1.2 million vehicles sold.
Ford has recently encountered some unique supply chain issues, including sourcing its blue oval badges for highly profitable pickup trucks and SUVs. The automaker had approximately 40,000 vehicles awaiting parts to complete the third trimester. He said last week that he plans to complete and ship these vehicles to dealerships by the end of the year.
Andrew Frick, Ford’s vice president of sales, distribution and trucks, said the automaker “continues to see strong demand for its vehicles” amid rising interest rates, record inflation and fears of recession.
Ford said orders for the 2023 model year vehicles totaled 255,000. According to the company, about half of those sales were retail sales of orders placed previously.
Sales of Ford’s profitable F-Series pickups fell 17.4% last month from October 2021, contributing to a decline of around 13% year-to-date over the past two months of the year. The company sold 11,196 models of its all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup through October, including 2,436 vehicles last month.
Ford’s all-electric vehicle sales in 2022 totaled about 47,500 units through October, which represents about 3% of the automaker’s sales. The majority of those sales were Mustang Mach-E crossovers, which were up 44 percent from a year ago to more than 31,000 units.
Year-to-date sales of all Ford vehicles, including its luxury brand Lincoln, totaled 1.54 million units through October, down 2.2% from it a year ago.
Ford is one of a handful of automakers to report monthly new vehicle sales. Others – such as General Engines and Stellarformerly Fiat Chrysler — only report sales quarterly.
Ford’s October sales come a week after company posted a net loss of $827 million during the third quarter, weighed down by supply chain issues and costs related to the dissolution of its autonomous vehicle unit Argo AI.
The automaker last week updated its guidance to forecast adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of about $11.5 billion for the full year – the lowest of its previously forecast earnings. However, it raised its full-year adjusted free cash flow forecast to between $9.5 billion and $10 billion – from $5.5 billion to $6.5 billion – thanks to the strength of the company’s automotive business.