Ford’s 2021 First-Quarter Sales Take Off Like a Rocket

Lead by a massive gain in electrified vehicle sales, Ford’s retail sales in Q1 top 2020 and 2019 levels by over 23 percent.

Ford bet big on electrification and it is paying off for them. Ford electrified vehicle sales are up 74.1 percent with the Mach-E and F-150 PowerBoost Hybrid leading the charge. The 25,980 vehicles sold is a new record sales start. SUVs posted best first quarter retail sales since 2001. We can’t say we were caught off guard by any of this. We knew that Ford was poised to have major hits with their new products. Now we have the numbers to back it up.

When we drove the Mach-E we were impressed. Mustang name aside, it is a very capable and desirable vehicle. 6,614 of them were sold in Q1 and they sat on dealer lots for only 7 days on average. Seems that we are not the only ones impressed with this new electric SUV. The Bronco Sport is another SUV we were impressed with. There were 23,356 baby Broncos were sold in the first quarter. The momentum is still building for these models as March sales significantly outpaced February. Combined retail sales of the Bronco Sport and Mustang Mach-E were up 38.3 percent in March compared to prior month.

That is a solid start indeed, and we haven’t even got to the F-Series numbers yet. Sales of the first all-new F-150 PowerBoost Hybrid totaled 7,176 pickups in Q1. March provided the trucks best performance to-date, up 110 percent compared to February. If you want bigger gains, just look to the bigger trucks. The F-650 and F-750 Q1 sales were up 111 percent over last year. Overall, the F-Series had its best start in 15 years. Retail sales were up 24.5 percent. We don’t like to jinx things, but the title of America’s best-selling truck looks like it will belong to Ford again. Ford F-Series sales totaled 203,797 vehicles in the first quarter.

Overall retail truck and SUV sales were up 87,883 over a year ago. Combined retail trucks and SUV sales were up 30.8 percent. This gives Ford its best first-quarter performance since 2007. Even the Lincoln brand is getting in on the act. Lincoln SUVs enjoyed their best retail start in 20 years. The Corsair produced a new record quarterly sales start for Lincoln in the small premium SUV segment with retail sales up 26.4 percent with total sales of 7,114 SUVs. The mid-size Nautilus just started to land in dealer lots in March. Once those sales start to be tallied, it could mean a record year for Lincoln overall.

Ford is lighting up the sales charts in 2021. This despite the lingering effects of a pandemic. And the full-size Bronco has not even hit the ground yet. Ford is on one hell of a roll right now. They have a showroom full of new and innovative products that customers can’t wait to get their hands on. That will always be the recipe for sales success. We hope they keep this momentum going. With the big Bronco and redesigned Raptor on the way soon that probably won’t be a problem. However, if you are a Ford competitor, it may be a problem indeed.

Images: Ford Motor Company

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Joe Kucinski

Joe has been obsessed with cars since he got his very first Matchbox toy in the ‘70s. In 2003, he found a new obsession in track days that led to obtaining his SCCA competition license in 2015. In 2019, he became a certified driving instructor for the National Auto Sport Association. His love for all things four wheels has never wavered, whether it's driving some of the best cars in the world on the racetrack, tackling 2,000-mile road trips in 2-seat sports cars or being winched off the side of a mountaintop in a Jeep. Writing for the suite of Internet Brands Auto Communities sites, including Rennlist.com, Ford Truck Enthusiasts, 6 Speed and more allows him to share that knowledge and passion with others.