Ford F-Series Sales Plunge Highlights Industry’s Supply Woes

(Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co.'s sales tumbled to start the year, led by a 31% first-quarter plunge for its F-Series pickup, as it continued to struggle with the semiconductor shortage.

The manufacturer sold 159,328 vehicles in the U.S. in March across its namesake and Lincoln brands, a 26% decline from a year ago, according to a statement Monday. For the full quarter, sales fell 17%.

“The chip shortage continues to hurt Ford's output to a higher degree,” researcher LMC Automotive said in a separate statement. “The F-150 was outsold by both the Chevrolet Silverado and Ram 1500 in March.”

The performance is a particular blow to Ford as it prepares to roll out an electric version of its F-150, which had nearly 200,000 non-binding reservations from potential buyers. The F-Series line is the top-selling vehicle in America and Ford's most profitable product. The company said it has a high number of F-Series trucks in transit to dealers.

“While the global semiconductor chip shortage continues to create challenges, we saw improvement in March sales, as in-transit inventory improved 74% over February,” Andrew Frick, vice president of sales, distribution and trucks, said in the Ford statement.

Ford joined its automaker peers reporting a sales decline to start the year as the war in Ukraine and volatile gas prices add to supply-chain challenges and pandemic upheaval for the industry. Toyota Motor Corp. retained its spot as the No. 1 automobile seller in the U.S. for the first quarter despite a 15% decline.

Following Ford's release, LMC cut its outlook for U.S. light-vehicle sales industrywide due to “lack of inventory.” It now sees sales this year of 15.3 million, down 500,000 from its prior expectation.

Ford shares were little changed at $16.67 as of 12:15 p.m. in New York. The stock declined 20% this year through Friday's close, worse than the slide in the S&P 500 Index.

CFRA Research on Monday lowered its earnings estimate for Ford and cut its 12-month price target by $5 to $25. Still, the firm said Ford's move to embrace electric vehicles gives the stock “expansion potential” as it becomes valued less like a legacy auto manufacturer.

“Clearly, chip shortages are hurting Ford's volumes (along with all automakers), but we believe there is reason for optimism,” Garrett Nelson, vice president at CFRA Research, wrote in a note to investors.

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