By Nathan Gomes and Nora Eckert
(Reuters) – Ford Motor on Thursday reported a 16% rise in U.S. auto sales for April, aided by strong truck demand and its employee pricing program. Still, its EV sales fell 40%.
Demand for vehicles has remained strong, with consumers trying to quickly snap up vehicles before prices potentially surge after U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
Toyota Motors’ North American unit also reported a 23.5% rise in U.S. vehicle sales for April at 35,174 units.
Ford announced discounts across multiple models in April, leaning on its healthy inventory to offer customers thousands of dollars off as competitors hiked prices to absorb tariff costs.
Sales of Ford’s pickup trucks, which includes its F series and compact Maverick models, rose 23% at 99,954 units.
The Mustang Mach-E, an electric vehicle, notched a 40% decrease in sales year-over-year, and F-150 Lightning EV truck sales were down 17%.
A Ford spokesperson said the poor EV sales were due to the model year changeover for the two vehicles and low supply on dealer lots.
Going into the month of April, Mach-E and F-150 Lightning were operating nationwide on 9 and 19 dealer days’ supply, respectively, Ford said, adding that May sales were expected to increase.
Meanwhile, sales of Ford’s hybrid vehicles surged 30% in April.
(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru, Nora Eckert in Detroit; Editing by Leroy Leo, William Maclean)
