Ford’s July Sales Numbers Reveal Some Good News And Some Bad News

Since Ford has been releasing monthly sales numbers for the last several months, it’s been a good indicator of what is happening both in Dearborn and also within the industry. Most of what Ford is contending with, is not exclusive to Ford, but is part of the trend in the automotive industry. And that means both the good news and the not so good news that came out of Ford as it relates to their July numbers.

Related story: Electric sales up 117% for month of June.

You have to look past the headlines sometimes and inspect the numbers to see the real story. The below quote from Andrew Frick, VP of Ford Sales in the U.S. and Canada contains spin, but also shows some valuable insight into the industry and trends at the Blue Oval.

“In addition to the sales we delivered in July, our retail order bank increased over 70,000 units, excluding our Bronco and Maverick retail orders, which is 10 times higher than we were a year ago. Our newest products, including F-150 PowerBoost, Mustang Mach-E, Bronco and Bronco Sport, are conquesting at a rate that is almost 14 points higher than Ford overall. With our strong portfolio of new products, robust transaction pricing and a big order bank, we are perfectly positioned for significant growth as the semiconductor chip situation improves.”

Related story: Report indicates Ford Motor Company hardest hit by chip shortage.

Let’s take a no-spin look at some of the positive news and the realistic news from July’s numbers out of Dearborn.

Positive: Ford Bronco Is Finally For Sale
Ford sold 3,277 Broncos in July. That seems underwhelming except when you realize it’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to expectations for this iconic SUV. Ford will tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of these rugged, off-road SUVs.

More good news emerged related to the Bronco is that more than 70 percent of Ford Bronco orders are coming from outside of Ford. This seems to come from the Jeep world and perhaps a little bit from Toyota as well.

Also, the Ford Bronco Sport is a success. Many enthusiasts were upset or dismayed about the launch of the Bronco Sport. An uninformed public thought the baby Bronco was the only Bronco Ford would offer. Rather, Ford just launched this new crossover entry ahead of the iconic two-door and four-door bigger Bronco. And guess what? There’s a huge consumer base for it as Ford has sold more than 62,000 Bronco Sports so far in 2021. That is more than EcoSport or or Edge.

Related story: Bronco Sport Makes Bold Entry.

Bad: Mustang Sales Continue Downward Trend
I called the Bronco an icon, but Ford’s true icon, the Ford Mustang, continues to see negative sales numbers when compared year over year and month over month.
For July, Ford 4,124 Mustangs, which is a 16% drop compared to July of 2020 and year to date the Mustang sales are down almost 7%.

Good: Mustang Mach-E Continues Upward Sales Trend
Obviously there’s no numbers to compare to from 2020 for the Mustang Mach-E, so Ford can spin their sales numbers almost any way they want when it comes to their all-electric Mustang crossover.

Ford says the Mach-E saw 15.8% sales growth from last month, which amounts to 2,854 units sold for a year to date total of 15,289. EVs continue to be niche for Ford and most automakers, so Ford seems pleased with that number.

It also shows that outlandish estimates of 50,000-100,000 Mustang Mach-Es sold is pretty far off pace and was likely an unrealistic expectation anyway.

Bad: Ford F-Series Sales Down 26% Compared To July 2020
It’s no secret that Ford’s production for the F-Series, which includes the new 14th-generation F-150 have been hampered significantly by supply chain issues and production issues. The launch of the oh-so-important 14th-generation F-150 was great, but the production process has greatly worked against getting the F-Series distributed to eager customers. Thus, the numbers are down.

Still, Ford moved more than 52,000 units in July, but that’s down from 70,000 in July of 2020, which was just barely emerging from the pandemic at that time. However, much of the downward trend is honestly due to production slowdowns more than anything else as Ford F-Series are nearly flat year over year with Ford having sold 414,000 units thus far, compared to 428,000 units this time last year.

Ford leads expanded its lead this month and stands at 59,508 trucks over its second-place competitor, so will for sure hold onto the lead once again as the best-selling truck in North America.

Good: F-150 Lightning In High Demand As Is Ford Maverick
All news was not bad when it comes to Ford’s truck line. The upcoming Ford Maverick now has approximately 80,000 reservations, with the largest number coming from California.

The Maverick’s attractive price and smaller size plus hybrid engine seems to have found a specific untapped audience for Ford.

Related story: Ford Maverick could be a game changer for Ford.

We already knew that the reservations for the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning were big, but Ford now says that number surpasses 120,000. That means there could be 120,000 electric trucks on the road as early as this time next year.

Ford also played up that 80 percent of the fully electric Lightning truck customers are coming from other brands, with the majority of orders coming from California and bringing new people to the full-size truck segment.

Again, California is mentioned as a player for Ford which is interesting, but not surprising. The F-150 plays well in Texas and the Midwest, but in the cities and the west coast the Lightning and Maverick seem to fill a need. And that could be a huge financial windfall for the Blue Oval.

Final Conclusion: Ford’s Numbers Tell The Truth (Somewhat)
You can almost dismiss the downturn on the F-Series sales as being mostly due to the chip shortage. Unfortunately that is expected to drag on into 2022. But the F-Series is still the best-selling nameplate for Ford Motor Company.

Likewise, as a I wrote yesterday, it’s time to move on about hating on the Mustang Mach-E for sporting that Mustang logo. Whether it’s a Mustang or not, it’s a big part of Ford’s financial success plan and ushers them into the electrified future. So, if you are a Ford fan, even if you don’t have interest (yet) in an EV, you should hope for success for the Mach-E as well as the F-150 Lightning.

What Ford numbers stand out to you or which product are you most enthused about? Leave me your comments below.

Jimmy Dinsmore has been an automotive journalist for more than a decade and been a writer since the high school. His Driver’s Side column features new car reviews and runs in several newspapers throughout the country. He is also co-author of the book “Mustang by Design” and “Ford Trucks: A Unique Look at the Technical History of America’s Most Popular Truck”. Also, Jimmy works in the social media marketing world for a Canadian automotive training aid manufacturing company. Follow Jimmy on Facebook, Twitter, at his special Ford F-150 coverage on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can read the most of Jimmy's stories by searching Torque News Ford for daily Ford vehicle report.