Ford U.S. sales fall 10.3% on low F-150 inventory

Ford's U.S. sales fell 10.3% in the second quarter to 549,200 vehicles, down from 612,095 a year earlier, as low F-150 inventory hit the company’s most important truck line. Ford said F-Series deliveries reached 357,801 through June, leaving the pickup on pace for 50 straight years as America’s best-selling truck, but the quarter still showed how quickly a shortage in one blockbuster model can pull down a full sales ledger.

The weakness looked more like a supply problem than a clean demand collapse. Ford’s pickup production was still recovering after Novelis restarted operations following two fires late last year, and the company has been working through the impact of that disruption. Even so, the second quarter was not only about trucks: Ford said its EV sales fell 40.7% from a year earlier, F-Series sales declined 11%, and daily rental sales dropped 69%, while the company also continued model phaseouts including the Escape and Lincoln Corsair.

Ford’s core brand U.S. sales came in at 522,811, down 10.0% from the same period a year earlier, and Lincoln sales fell 15.8% to 26,389. June U.S. sales were 179,705, down 1.5% year over year, showing that the pressure was still visible at the monthly level as the quarter closed. The numbers make clear that Ford’s problem was not confined to one trim or one badge, even if the F-150 shortage was the biggest single drag.

There were bright spots inside the portfolio. Ford said Maverick Hybrid set a second-quarter record at 29,457 sales, while combined Bronco, Explorer and Expedition sales rose 10.1% in the first half. Those gains helped offset some of the damage, but they were not enough to mask the dependence on the F-Series and the vulnerability that comes with it. A supplier fire that was estimated last October to shave as much as $1 billion from earnings now sits at the center of a broader picture that includes production disruption, shifting EV demand and uneven fleet sales.