Ford Motor Co. reported U.S. sales declined 2% in 2022. The automaker shared that sales growth among its electric vehicles (EVs), particularly its F-150 Lightning pickup truck, offset sales dips in its gas- and diesel-engine lines.
The Detroit automaker sold 1.86 million vehicles in 2022, down from 1.91 million in 2021. The automaker is not alone in its slipping sales. Sales fell 8% across the industry in 2022 to the lowest level in 11 years, according to a Wards Intelligence tally.
Ford reported its total EV sales—which include the Lightning, Mustang Mach-E SUV and a battery-powered E-Transit van—more than doubled in 2022 to 61,575 vehicles.
However, sales of its F-Series pickup trucks declined 9.9% to 654,000 vehicles, the company said. The company cited production disruptions due to shortages of components, such as semiconductor chips and vehicle badges, as the reason. Ford reported in September that at least 40,000 vehicles, many of them pickups, couldn’t be shipped to dealers because they needed parts.
General Motors full-size pickups encountered similar problems. Sales of its Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra models fell by 2% in 2022 because of supply constraints. Still, the automaker outsold Ford’s total F-Series sales for the third consecutive year.
In 2022, Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley split the company into separate EV and gas-engine divisions. The goal behind the move was to help Ford bring EVs to market more quickly. Farley aims to have the company producing 600,000 EVs annually by the end of 2023 and 2 million by 2026.
Rising raw-material costs over the past year are complicating Ford and other automaker’s shift to EVs. Prices for battery minerals, such as lithium and nickel, have skyrocketed, narrowing EV profit margins. In response, Ford raised the price for its F-150 lightning three times in 2022.
