Electric vehicle leader Tesla Inc TSLA has dominated the market in the U.S. and many parts of the world. In 2023, the company's Model Y became the bestselling vehicle worldwide in the first quarter of the year.
While the Model Y dominated the SUV sector for electric vehicles, a legacy automaker saw strong sales in the month of August to rank second.
What Happened: Among the legacy automakers pushing forth with plans to grow their electric vehicle production and deliveries is Ford Motor Company F, which has launched vehicles such as the Mustang Mach-E SUV and F-150 Lightning.
After a rough first half of 2023 that saw sales of the Mustang Mach-E impacted by the retooling of a plant in Mexico, the vehicle saw strong growth in August.
According to sales reports from Ford and Electrek, the Mustang Mach-E had sales of 5,033 units in the month of August, which was up 61.3% year-over-year.
This made the Ford SUV the second bestselling electric SUV in the U.S. for the month of August, trailing only the Model Y from Tesla.
According to Electrek, Ford sold 8,633 Mustang Mach-E’s in April, May and June combined, showing the strength of the month of August.
Year-to-date, Mustgan Mach-E U.S. sales are 23,010 units, down 10.7% year-over-year. The rise in August sales came as production for the vehicle came back strong after 0 units made in January and only 300 in February.
Ford offered price cuts on the Mustang Mach-E earlier this year and also started offering new lease offers recently.
Related Link: Here's How Many Vehicles Tesla Has Delivered And Produced In Each Quarter Since 2019
Why It’s Important: The strong rebound in Mustang Mach-E sales could highlight Ford's seeking to outduel other legacy automakers and get closer to Tesla’s dominance in the electric vehicle market.
While sales of the Mustang Mach-E saw a nice uptick in August, Ford's F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck saw a drop.
F-150 Lightning sales totaled 1,018 units in the U.S. for the month of August, which was down 57.1%. The drop came as the result of a factory shutdown.
“F-150 Lightning production is starting to ramp after a six-week shutdown to expand the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center with limited deliveries across July and August,” Ford told Electrek.
Total F-150 Lightning sales total 11,327 units in the U.S., up 65.6% year-over-year.
The sales decline for the F-150 Lightning and subsequent production ramp comes as the highly anticipated Cybertruck electric pickup truck from Tesla is nearing a launch date later this year. The Cybertruck has nearly two million reservations according to third-party tracking data.
Ford said the Rouge EV factory is on track for a 150,000 run rate by the fall of 2023.
In the second quarter, Ford reported revenue of $1.8 billion for its electric vehicle Ford Model E segment, which was up 39% year-over-year.
The company said the Ford Model E-business is scaling and seeing competitive pricing. Ford sees a run-rate of 600,000 units in 2024 for its Model E segment.
“The shift to powerful digital experiences and breakthrough EVs is underway and going to be volatile, so being able to guide customers through and adapt to the pace of adoption are big advantages for us,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said at the time.
Ford sees electric vehicles scaling to a two million run rate in the future, and the company said it will balance growth and profitability for the segment.
F Price Action: Ford shares are down 2.03% to $11.84 on Wednesday versus a 52-week trading range of $10.90 to $15.74.
Read Next: Exclusive: Cathie Wood Says Cybertruck Will Expand The Truck Market
Photo: Mustang Mach-E, Courtesy Ford
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