Ford claims second place in EV sales behind Tesla, but the difference is still substantial.
DEARBORN – Ford Motor announced on Friday that it has succeeded in CEO Jim Farley’s goal of moving up to the position of the second-best-selling electric vehicle manufacturer in the country.
The Detroit carmaker narrowly beat Hyundai/Kia to achieve the desired result, citing third-party industry data. While still by far the market leader, Tesla has been losing market share as new EVs come into the scene.
Ford reported that its market share for electric vehicles increased to 7.4% through November from 5.7% a year prior.
Through November, Ford reported selling 53,752 all-electric vehicles in the United States. Through the third quarter, more than 908,000 electric vehicles were delivered worldwide, according to Tesla, which does not break out domestic figures.
The Nexo hydrogen fuel cell car is not included in Hyundai’s sales figures. According to the corporation, it sold slightly more battery- and fuel cell-powered vehicles—54,043 units—through November than Ford did.
The sales came after the South Korean automaker lost incentives that provided purchasers of its electric vehicles with tax credits of up to $7,500 under the Inflation Reduction Act, which went into effect in August under the Biden administration. North American-made cars like Ford’s electric vehicles still qualify for the credit.
In an exclusive interview with CNBC, Hyundai Motor CEO Jaehoon “Jay” Chang called the loss of incentives a “very tough issue” and said it was worrying.
U.S. EV sales have long been dominated by Tesla. However, S&P Global Mobility noted that their market share of new registered electric vehicles in the U.S. stood at 65% through the third quarter, down from 71% last year and 79% in 2020. This is because more EVs are becoming available.
It might be difficult to maintain Ford’s No. 2 ranking, which Farley previously declared Ford will reach by 2023. Since America’s largest automaker intends to dramatically increase EV manufacturing in the upcoming years, GM CEO Mary Barra has stated that the business hopes to surpass Tesla in EV sales by the middle of the decade.
GM doesn’t release monthly sales figures. Less than 23,000 EVs were sold through the third quarter of this year, according to its sales report.
As part of its November results, which were generally down 7.8% from a year earlier, Ford announced its EV sales. Its second-worst overall total since June, the corporation reported 146,364 units of car sales in the United States in the past month. Compared to a year earlier, when sales volume was quite low, its EV sales increased.
Ford claimed that the demand for its automobiles is still robust, citing retail orders. It did not provide an explanation for the decreases in November sales, but the business and other automakers are still battling supply chain issues.
Only 55,169 F-Series pickups were sold in November, an 8.7% decrease from the same month last year. As a result of reported issues with the vehicles’ parts, they are currently down 12.8% for the year.
Less than 1.7 million automobiles, including those under the luxury Lincoln brand, were sold by Ford as of November, a 2.7% decline from the same month last year.
