Ford Motor (NYSE: F) sold 530,660 vehicles in the US in the fourth quarter, up an impressive 8.8% from the same quarter the year before. Its EV sales were less impressive. They rose only 16.3% to 30,176. Sales of its EV flagship F-150 Lightning were down 10.1% to 10,703. This number shows how hard it has been for Ford to get an early return on investment from its multi-billion EV investment.
Looking at it another way, only 5.6% of Ford’s fourth-quarter sales were EVs. Ford remains a gas-powered vehicle company. Its large F-series gas-powered full-sized pickup had sales of 214,814, which made it the best-selling truck in the US for the 48th year. Ford remains a truck company more than a car company.
Ford’s EV sales aren’t strong by any measure. Tesla still has about half the US EV market. According to The New York Times, GM is in second place.” Its electric-vehicle sales in the quarter more than doubled, to nearly 44,000, making G.M. the second-largest E.V. seller after Tesla,” the newspaper reported.
Ford management can only be partially held responsible for its EV struggles. President Biden set the goal that 50% of all vehicles sold in the US by 2030 would be EVs. His goal included plug-in hybrids. The industry is not selling EVs at nearly the pace necessary to reach that goal.
Americans continue to be wary of EVs. The reasons have been listed regularly. One is the pace at which EVs charge. Another is the number of charging stations. Yet another is how far an EV will go on a single charge.
In 2021, Ford said it would invest $30 billion in its EV initiatives. It has backed off. One of the most aggressive retreats is the manufacture of F-150 Lighting units. Early last year, Ford slowed Lighting production at one of its plants.
Investors have suffered the consequences of Ford’s EV problems. They are almost certainly the most significant contributor to Ford’s stock price drop, down 15% in the last year. The S&P 500 is up 26% over the same period. GM’s stock is 46% higher.
The Lightning was Ford’s best chance at an EV breakthrough. It carried the name Ford’s best-selling vehicle. If Ford could not make the Lightning work, it had little chance of EV sales working at all.
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