Ford sales surge 8.2% in Q3, led by trucks and EVs

Ford’s (F) US sales surged in the third quarter, led by its trucks and electrified vehicles. Ford said it was the seventh consecutive month of sales gains for the automaker.

Ford reported total sales of 545,522, up 8.2% compared to a year ago. Ford sales of pickups like the F-Series, Ranger, and Maverick, combined with its vans, jumped 7.4% to 313,654 units sold, with F-Series trucks up nearly 13% year to date.

Not surprisingly, Ford had its best EV sales ever for the quarter, as buyers rushed to purchase electric Mustang Mach-E SUVs and F-150 Lightning pickups.

Ford EV sales hit a record 30,612 in the quarter, up 30.2%, led by the Mach-E hitting 20,177 units sold, up a robust 50.7%. Ford said the F-150 Lightning hit a Q3 record 10,005 pickups sold, up nearly 40% and making the best selling EV pickup in the US, topping Rivian’s (RIVN) R1S and Tesla’s (TSLA) Cybertruck.

**Ford shares added nearly 2% in early trade. ** “We saw strong performance in gas, hybrid, and electrified powertrains, while at the same time growing our paid software solutions, all embedded in vehicles such as Expedition, Explorer and F-150,” Ford president Andrew Frick said in a statement.

The continued popularity of Ford hybrids powered the company’s sales. Ford hybrid sales hit a Q3 record at 55,177 units, paced by the Maverick pickup and full size F-150 hybrid.

Finally, Ford SUV sales surged by 12.2% to just under 199K vehicles sold, as Expedition (up 47%), Bronco (up 41%), and Explorer (up 33%) sales chugged along. Midsize Bronco Sport and Escape sale sales declines, however, of over 10%.

The industry expected strong sales for Ford’s Q3 given the fact it had July and August sales were impressive. EV sales stayed strong as the expiring federal tax credit meant buyers need to sign on the dotted line before yesterday’s deadline.

The company, along with GM (GM), is also reportedly working on preserving the federal EV tax credit for leased vehicles, by having its finance arm sign deals for pre-existing inventory then passing the savings on to buyers.

Ford’s results came despite headwinds like tariffs and high interest rates; however, Ford’s exposure to offshore production is limited cmopared to its rival GM, and the company has dipped into 72 month and 84 month financing to blunt higher monthly car payments for its buyers.