(Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co.'s US electric vehicle sales fell 2.8% in the second quarter, losing ground to Tesla Inc. and General Motors Co., after the automaker paused production early this year at the Mexican factory that builds its battery-powered Mustang Mach-E.
Ford sold 14,843 EVs in the three months through June, down from 15,273 a year earlier, the company said Thursday in a statement. Overall, Ford's light-vehicle sales rose 9.9% on strong demand for F-Series pickup trucks and Escape sport-utility vehicles.
Production at the Mach-E plant in Cuautitlan, Mexico, was halted in January and February to double its capacity. Ford said inventory recovered late in the second quarter after factory work resumed, contributing to a 110% surge in June sales for the Mach-E.
Ford trailed GM in EV sales in the quarter after besting its crosstown rival last year to finish runner-up to Tesla, which controls nearly two-thirds of the US market for battery-powered vehicles. GM sold 15,354 EVs in the second quarter, while Hyundai was just behind Ford with 14,348 EV sales.
“We took capacity actions earlier in the year on Mustang Mach-E and we are just beginning to get inventory coming back,” Erich Merkle, Ford's sales analyst, said in an email. “We had better inventory flow to finish out Q2.”
EVs accounted for 2.8% of Ford's sales volume in the quarter. The automaker has said it expects to lose $3 billion in its EV business this year as it pours $50 billion into developing and manufacturing battery-powered models. The automaker is aiming to build 2 million EVs a year by the end of 2026 and earn an 8% return on them before interest and taxes by then.
--With assistance from Gabrielle Coppola.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
