Ford’s 41% percent rise in EV sales in the US in the first quarter was not enough to end up ahead GM, whose record Chevy Bolt EV numbers propelled it to second position in US EV sales behind Tesla in the first quarter of 2023.
Ford announced it sold 10,866 electric vehicles in its home market in Q1 2023, a solid 41% year-on-year increase. However, the top brass will not be happy with the Mustang Mach-E, which saw its numbers drop, selling only 5,407 units, a 19.7% decrease compared to last year’s 6,734. However, Ford’s Mexico factory was shut for most of the quarter.
The American automaker sold 4,291 F-150 Lightning trucks, despite pausing production to deal with some battery problems. Ford’s E-Transit was another bright spot, with sales of the commercial van increasing by 62.7%.
GM, however, got ahead of Ford, posting 19,700 sales of its popular Chevy Bolt EV and EUV. This was despite coming off recalls in 2022. The record sales in Q1 were the third consecutive increase quarter-on-quarter.
GM’s other EVs, however, did not move the needle by much. The Cadillac Lyriq only managed 968 units and only two Hummer EVs. GM expects the Bolt EV/EUV sales to clock 70,000 this year, signifying continuing demand for affordable EVs.
While the numbers are encouraging for the two legacy automakers, they are still way behind Tesla, which delivered a record 422,875 units in the quarter.
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