Ford Motor Co.’s (NYSE: F | F Price Prediction) U.S. sales in May were strong. However, electric vehicle (EV) sales were a major disappointment. Even worse, sales of its flagship EV, the F-150 Lightning, collapsed.
Ford sold 220,959 vehicles in May in the United States, up 16.3% from the same month in 2024. A core part of the success was the sales of its top-selling product. F-Series pickup sales rose 14.9% to 79,817. This was over a third of the company’s sales for the month. The F-Series has been the nation’s leading fossil-fuel-powered vehicle for decades.
The F-150 Lightning was based on a marketing strategy of taking Ford’s most well-known brand and adding “Lightning” to its name. The F-150 brand, Ford reasoned, should give the electric version a strong sales tailwind. It did not work at all. Lightning sales were down 41.7% in May to 1,902. That means the company sold only 63 of these a day, nationwide, during the month.
The Ford F-150 Lightning
Ford made a series of promises that the Lightning would do well. It launched the product on April 26, 2022. “America’s real transition to electric vehicles starts now,” Ford President and CEO Jim Farley said. He added, “Ford is on track to deliver more than 2 million electric vehicles annually by 2026, equal to about one-third of the company’s global volume, on the way to 50% by 2030.” The chance it will hit its 2026 goal is zero.
On October 31, 2024, the company said it would pause production of the Lightning until the start of 2025. The reason was a lack of demand.
Across its entire EV strategy, Ford needed one plan to work. That was to take its most famous brand and use it as the tip of the spear as it moved into the sector. The failure has been stunning.
There are several reasons Ford’s stock has done so poorly. It is down 15% in the past year while the broader market is 13% higher. If EVs are the vehicles of the future, Ford’s future is dim.
Ford Stock Price Prediction and Forecast 2025-2030
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