Ford struggled once again with its vehicle sales in the United States last month, reporting just 123,350 units sold in February 2022. That is a 20.9 percent drop compared to its sales numbers during the same period last year. Ford's year-to-date number thus far is 261,141 vehicle sales, which is 10.5 percent below its sales numbers in the first two months of 2021.
Electrified vehicle sales of both Ford and Lincoln brands last month stood at just 8,984 units, a 3.1 percent decrease year-over-year. Battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and hybrid electric vehicles accounted for over 6.9 percent of the total volume of the group in February.
That being said, sales of Ford's electrified vehicles increased by 55.3 percent through February, giving this segment a record start to the year. Ford said that electrified vehicle conquest rates grew faster than the overall segment, climbing to 54 percent, which is 13 percentage points higher than its numbers a year ago.
It did not help matters for Ford that sales of its popular Mustang Mach-E slowed down in February 2022. Ford sold just 2,001 units of this electric vehicle last month, which is 46.5 percent less than Mustang Mach-E's sales in February 2021.
The low sales numbers can be attributed to Ford's difficulties in producing Mustang Mach-E vehicles with the Dearborn automaker reported to halt production last month because of the ongoing global semiconductor shortage.
Supply chain issues related to computer chips remains a major problem for the entire auto industry, meaning low vehicle production will continue to hound Ford in the first half of this year.
Even with that low sales number, Ford Mustang Mach-E accounted for 1.6 percent of the company's total sales volume in the US. The Mach-E's gross stock in the United States is at around 3,500 units, a huge drop compared to 4,700 vehicles in December 2021.
Ford produced 4,755 units of the Mustang Mach-E in Mexico last month. Those numbers are 24 percent higher compared to the Mach-E's production figures in February 2021, both of which were recorded with the company having supply constraints.
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Sales of the Mustang Mach-E and other electrified vehicles may have slowed down last month but that won't stop Ford from ramping up its electrification plans. Ford CEO Jim Farley announced on Wednesday, March 2, that the automaker will be boosting spending on electric vehicles to $50 billion through 2026, up from the previously announced $30 billion allocation for EVs.
Farley said the company plans to build more than 2 million electric vehicles in the year 2026, which is estimated to be about one-third of its annual global production. By the time 2030 arrives, Ford wants its EV fleet to account for 50 percent of its total volume.
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