NEW YORK, June 5 ― Ford Motor Company announced yesterday its May US sales surged 11.2 per cent, boosting its market share thanks to new models including the latest version of its flagship pickup, the F-150.

The Michigan-based automaker sold 190,014 vehicles last month, and 877,685 since the start of the year, a 5.6 per cent year-on-year rise. It claims to have "outpaced” the industry and increased its market share by 0.7 percentage points in May, to 12.8 per cent.

That month alone Ford marked an increase of more than 64 per cent in both sales of electric vehicles (8,866) and hybrids (17,631), which the company said in a statement "grew at a faster rate than both their respective industry segments.”

Sales of standard combustion vehicles meanwhile increased by 5.6 per cent to 163,417.

Ford and Lincoln brand results in the first quarter beat analysts' expectations despite a loss in the Ford Model e division of electric vehicles due to falling prices, chief financial officer John Lawler said in April.

Ford had high expectations from the ramp-up in production of the 2024 model F-150, which has been the best-selling pickup in the United States for almost five decades.

It sold 238,114 from January through May, with the electric version of the pickup recording a 91-per cent sales jump.

Its Maverick truck is America's best-selling pick-up in the hybrid segment, with 33,748 sold to date in 2024 ― up 80.5 per cent year on year.

Ford is the only one of the three American legacy carmakers to release monthly sales. General Motors and Stellantis (Chrysler, Jeep, etc) are due to announce their second-quarter US sales in early July, as are Tesla and Toyota.

Japanese manufacturer Honda said its US sales rose by 6.4 per cent in May, to 127,129 vehicles, and by 11.1 per cent (577,539 vehicles) since the start of the year, placing it a bit above its 10-per cent growth forecast for 2024.

Vehicle sales in the United States are "creeping forward slowly,” Oxford Economics said in a report, pointing to a month-on-month rise of 0.9 per cent in May.

Cox Automotive said on its website that early May inventory levels were relatively "robust” and that price pressures prompted bargain-hunting by consumers.

Both Cox and Oxford put initial estimates of the annual US sales pace in May at close to 15.9 million vehicles. ― AFP