Ford August sales jump 13%, with trucks and hybrids powering the way

Ford (F) sales jumped in August, with a heavy summer car-buying season and ramp-up of its truck offerings boosting results.

For the month, Ford sold 182,985 vehicles in the U.S., a 13% jump from a year ago. Ford’s overall U.S. sales climbed sequentially compared to July when sales stood at 173,000 units, a dip of 0.2%. Ford said its August performance led to the brand capturing an estimated 12.6% overall market share, up 0.9% compared to last year, which Ford said made it the top-selling brand in the U.S. for two months in a row.

Ford’s truck sales in August were a highlight for the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker, with sales up 12% to a total of 103,011 units. Ford also noted it was the first month F-series truck sales topped 70,000 this year, with that total resulting in a 12% gain from a year ago. The lift in Ford F-series sales comes after the automaker had a slow start to the year in delivering its all-new 2024 F-150 pickup.

The other big sales result of note was Ford’s hybrid sales, which the company has been promoting heavily. Ford said hybrid sales jumped 50% compared to last year to 16,394 vehicles, with 12,000 of those for the Ford Maverick and Ford F-150 hybrid pickups.

Ford’s deeper pivot into hybrids comes as the company is in the midst of a strategy shift. In mid-August, the company said it was canceling the upcoming release of a large, three-row electric SUV in favor of leveraging hybrid technology for its next-gen three-row SUVs. Ford also said it is “retiming” the launch of its upcoming next-gen electric truck — code-named “Project T3” — to the second half of 2027, delaying the opening of an electric truck plant in Tennessee.

Despite Ford’s decision to push out capital outlays and the release of some EV products, Ford’s current EVs are selling well. In August Ford’s EV sales jumped 29% to 8,944 units, with the Mustang Mach-E (up 6%) and F-150 Lightning EV pickup (up 161%) making up the bulk of sales.

Finally, Ford’s luxury division Lincoln has seen its rebound continue as well, with sales up 49% in August to 9,841 vehicles sold. Lincoln’s new and buzzy Nautilus SUV powered the results, up 57% making it the nameplate’s best August in 17 years. Ford also revealed its all-new Lincoln Navigator full-size SUV in Pebble Beach last month.

Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

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