Ford pickup truck sales in December help narrow overall sales decline

DETROIT – Ford Motor narrowed its U.S. sales loss last year to 2.2%, as the automaker notably increased sales of its F-Series pickups to end 2022 with a slight increase in December.

The Detroit automaker on Thursday reported sales of more than 1.9 million vehicles in 2022, including an increase of 3.2% during the final month of the year. Ford’s sales were off 2.7% through November, before the December boost.

Ford said it sold more than 75,000 F-Series pickups in December, a 20.1% increase compared to a year earlier and the best month of the year as parts and supply chain problems disrupted production. Sales of the trucks still ended the year down 9.9% but better than the 13% they were down through November.

Andrew Frick, Ford vice president of sales, distribution & trucks, said the company is “well positioned heading into 2023.” However, the automaker did not release a sales forecast for the year.

Ford’s 2022 sales outpaced the industry, which was estimated to be down by roughly 9%. But they were not able to match crosstown rival General Motors, which managed to eke out a 2.5% gain in sales compared to 2021.

Ford said it was able to gain 0.7 percentage points of market share in 2022, however it wasn’t enough to offset its 1.3 percentage point loss from the prior year.

Regarding all-electric vehicles, Ford said it was able to maintain its status as the country’s second best-seller of EVs. Despite more than doubling its EV sales, Ford trails industry leader Tesla by a wide margin.

The Ford brand’s sales were down 2.1% last year, while the company’s Luxury Lincoln brand was off by 4%.