An employee is effective on the 40 millionth Ford Motor Co. F-Sequence truck on the assembly line at the Ford Dearborn Truck Plant on January 26, 2022 in Dearborn, Michigan.
Jeff Kowalsky | AFP | Getty Visuals
DETROIT – Ford Motor’s U.S. income of new cars declined 17% during the 1st quarter, like a 26% slide final month, as it battles a world-wide shortage of semiconductor chips.
The automaker on Monday reported 1st-quarter product sales of 432,132 vehicles, which include 159,328 units in March. These figures have been in line with analyst expectations.
Andrew Frick, Ford’s vice president of sales, distribution and trucks, explained the organization experienced some positive indicators heading into the spring advertising time.
“Though the worldwide semiconductor chip lack continues to develop worries, we observed enhancement in March profits, as in-transit stock improved 74% over February. F-Collection experienced a report 50,000 new retail orders in March, though a document 41% of our in general retail gross sales arrived from previously placed retail orders,” he said in a assertion.
Profits of Ford’s trucks had been off 23% all through the initially quarter. Motor vehicle sales were being down 49%, even though SUV income were being off just 5.1%.
Sales of Ford’s extremely rewarding F-Collection pickups, like the F-150 and its larger siblings, were down 31% during the 1st quarter, like a 47% decrease in March. On improved inventory, Ford stated its SUV revenue enhanced 39% compared with February.
Automakers these as Ford have been managing a worldwide scarcity of semiconductor chips for far more than a yr. The areas shortage has brought on sporadic shutdowns of plants and depleted new auto inventories.
Ford is amongst the final of the important automakers to report its March and to start with-quarter profits. U.S. new-car or truck profits total for January by means of March probably came in underneath 3.3 million, down 14% from the 1st quarter of 2021, field analysts say.
Ford touted demand from customers for its latest autos, such as the Bronco and Bronco Activity SUVs and the Maverick small pickup truck. March Maverick revenue enhanced 115% from February, with the normal vehicle offering off a supplier good deal just four times after arrival.
