2nd-quarter sales surge for Ford bucks trend
Bronco a big boost to automaker’s growth
Ford Motor Co. sold more vehicles in the U.S. during the second quarter this year than in 2021, bucking the industry trend.
In the months of April, May and June, Ford sold 483,688 vehicles – helped by a Bronco surge – for a 1.8% overall quarterly sales increase over a year ago.
Other vehicles that contributed included the Mustang Mach-e, Edge, Explorer and Maverick:
● Bronco went from 801 to 31,269. Up 3,803.7%
● Mach-e went from 6,361 to 10,941. Up 72%
● Edge went from 17, 205 to 25,041. Up 45.5%
● Explorer went from 52,997 to 60,181. Up 13.6%
● Maverick, launched in 2021, sold 19,508
Erich Merkle, Ford U.S. sales analyst, told the Free Press that customers placing orders for vehicles has helped with delivery flow. He spotlighted the major contrast between Ford’s 1.8% sales growth versus the overall industry’s 20.4% sales drop.
“A lot of it has to do with inventory flow. The supply constraints and chip constraints are real and the situation remains really fluid,” he said Tuesday. “We’re working as quickly as we can to convert those placed orders to sales and deliver vehicles to customers.”
Meanwhile, sales of the Ford F-series, which is the primary moneymaker for the company, saw just 0.3% growth year-over-year to 158,644. But a highlight hidden in this data point is that Ford is now the top electric truck maker, selling 2,296 F-150 Lightning trucks this quarter and 1,837 in June alone.
Ford F-650/750 truck sales climbed 2.1% to 3,130 and Transit Vans up 1.5% to 24,617.
While the Lincoln Navigator dropped 11% from 4,396 to 3,902, the Mkc/corsair and Nautilus/mkx saw double-digit percentage increases; from 6,393 to 7,094 and 6,055 to 6,766 respectively. The Aviator held strong, rising from 5,770 to 5,983.
Because of the ongoing global
The Lightning front trunk, which exists because the battery-operated electric vehicle has no engine taking up all that space, can hold 14.1 cubic feet of stuff and safely carry 400 pounds, known as payload.
A golfer can fit two big bags of clubs and extra gear.
Tailgaters fill it with ice and cases of beer and keep it open.
The space could easily be a naptime site if someone curled up a little.
Rocco tweeted a video June 18 of the hood of his big frunk closing after loading it.
Steve Mcinally, Ford F-150 Lightning frunk feature supervisor, told the Free Press on Thursday that the “Mega Power Frunk” is an industry game changer.
While other vehicles on the market may have a front trunk, the washable Lightning frunk is enormous. In addition to the emergency button, the Lightning frunk may be opened with the the key fob, the touch screen, the instrument panel, the door keypad, the customer’s phone via the Ford Pass app and an exterior manual button.
The emergency release inside the frunk is made with a phosphorescent plastic similar to a glow-in-the-dark Frisbee, so it’s easy to find, Mcinally said.
4-year-old makes discovery
Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing for Consumer Reports, said safety releases inside trunks is common these days.
“There have been cases where kids have inadvertently gotten themselves stuck in a trunk and not been able to get out,” he said Friday.
Tesla has them in its all-electric trunks. Porsche, too.
But an early experience at Toyota raised industry awareness about the need for a strong latch on the inside of a trunk space.
When Fisher was testing a Lexus in 2012, his 8-year-old son Ben asked about the glow-in-the-dark handle with a stick figure. He begged and pleaded to get his dad to close the trunk and test the handle, as part of the safety evaluation.
Fisher hesitated, he said, but finally agreed. Worked fine in the driveway of their central Connecticut home.
Uh-oh
Then the younger brother, 4-year-old Alex, wanted to try, too.
“I put him in the trunk, close it, and he doesn’t come out,” Jake Fisher recalled Friday. “I hear, ‘Bang bang, Dad!’ And when I open the trunk, Alex is looking at me. He’s got that little glowing handle in his hand. It’s not connected to the car anymore. He pulled on it, and it snapped right off. We called Toyota right away.”
Dad also contacted the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The accidental discovery led to a redesign and replacement of 700,000 emergency latches on the 2007-13 Lexus ES, 2006-12 Lexus IS, and 2013 Lexus GS models.
Alex Fisher was even credited in The New York Times on Dec. 12, 2012.
Just remember
“It’s not enough to put this safety feature in the car,” Jake Fisher said. “You have to make sure it’s tested and durable.”
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: at 313618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid.