Ford fuels May sales surge with timely marketing
Ford Motor Company reported a 16% sales increase to 220,959 in May year-over-year, with positive gains at both Ford and Lincoln. Hybrid vehicles led the way with a 28.9% sales increase, totaling 22,719 units, with internal combustion engine sales up 17.2% at 191,517 units. In the class category, Ford SUV sales saw the most significant gain at 25% to 94,595 units. Truck sales followed behind the SUV uptick at an 11.2% increase to 121,354 units. However, Ford Motor Company’s electric vehicle (EV) sales plummeted 25% in May to 6,723 units. The car class saw a less dramatic decrease of 3.2% to 5,010 units, according to Ford Authority. Ford’s new American Made campaign, centered around offering employee pricing, appears to primarily be fueling the company’s overall sales gain as drivers strive to get ahead of tariff-imposed vehicle cost increases. Lincoln reported a 39% increase in May sales, and Ford Motor Company’s total sales are up 6.1% to 930,925 vehicles compared to the first five months of 2024.
The 2025 Escape was one of Ford’s best-sellers in May, with sales catapulting 24% to 17,395 units. Ford’s 2024 Explorer saw a 23% sales increase to 20,504 vehicles. Bronco Sport sales rose 46% to 14,472 units, and the Maverick saw a 14% gain to 15,508 deliveries. Financial analyst Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, said “the monthly sales were better than feared and is a small step in the right direction,” but added that there’s “still a lot of wood to chop ahead for (CEO) Jim Farley and Ford with tariffs and demand issues,” the Detroit Free Press reports. While Ford Motor Company extended its employee pricing marketing to July 6, which affects nearly all 2024 and 2025 Ford and Lincoln vehicles, the American automaker announced price hikes up to $2,000 last month on three of its Mexico-produced models: the Mach-E SUV, Maverick pickup, and Bronco Sport SUV.
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Ford is succeeding despite recall issues and the market’s slowing pace
May represented the third consecutive year-over-year double-digit sales increase at Ford. Cox Automotive expects May sales across all automakers to rise 3.2% from last year and 2.5% from last month, but that the month’s sales pace will be significantly less than March and April, according to NBC. Besides weak May EV sales numbers, Ford has issued over 50 U.S. recalls in 2025, the most of any automaker. Through May 15, Volkswagen Group had issued the second-most recalls at 14. While EV sales were one of May’s lowlights at Ford, the company’s Mustang Mach-E experienced an 11% year-over-year sales surge to 4,724 units. Ford Motor Company stock finished at a 2.10% daily market increase and 5.6% year-over-year growth on Tuesday.
Ford
Final thoughts
With its third consecutive year-over-year double-digit sales increase and a 16% year-over-year sales increase for May, Ford has momentum that’s crucial to the company mitigating trade war-related impacts, including $1.5 billion in added net costs for 2025. Ford Chair John Lawler said the automaker will adjust operations over the next 12 to 24 months in response to tariffs, but as of now, weak EV sales and regular recalls aren’t significantly hurting the company’s standing.
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