Ford Motor reported Thursday that its new-vehicle gross sales fell 2 % in 2022 as shortages of laptop chips and different provide disruptions slowed its manufacturing of vans and sport-utility automobiles.
The automaker stated it bought 1.85 million vehicles and light-weight vans in america final yr, in addition to 13,539 heavy vans.
Ford’s gross sales decline was in keeping with most different automakers. General, the business bought about 13.8 million new automobiles in 2022, about a million fewer than in 2021, in accordance with Edmunds, a market analysis agency. On Wednesday, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Stellantis reported important declines in 2022 gross sales. Normal Motors was an exception: Its new-vehicle gross sales rose 2.5 %, to 2.3 million automobiles.
For the final two years, automakers all over the world have been hampered by a scarcity of semiconductors, the tiny brains utilized in digital gadgets that management a car’s engine, transmission, show display screen and different main parts. The chip scarcity eased considerably in 2022, however different provide issues have been brought on by Covid-19 outbreaks that at occasions interrupted manufacturing of key elements in China and Southeast Asia.
Provide points restricted the variety of pickup vans that Ford was capable of produce, and gross sales of its F-Sequence vans fell 10 %, to 653,957 automobiles, though the F-Sequence remained the top-selling car line within the U.S. market.
One brilliant spot for Ford was the introduction final spring of an electrical pickup truck, the F-150 Lightning. The corporate stated it bought 15,617 Lightnings in 2022, fewer than anticipated because it ramped up manufacturing of battery packs for the car.
Ford additionally stated it bought 6,500 electrical supply vans. Gross sales of an electrical S.U.V, the Mustang Mach E, elevated 45 %, to 39,458 automobiles.
The corporate is relying on a surge in electrical car gross sales to drive progress this yr. The automaker is constructing two battery crops in Kentucky and a 3rd battery plant and a brand new electrical truck plant in Tennessee.