Ford Motor (F) on Wednesday joined General Motors (GM) in reporting that its U.S. auto sales grew slightly in the second quarter, despite headwinds. Both the carmakers saw EV sales surge in Q2, a hopeful sign that production of newer electric vehicles may be ramping up after supply issues. Ford also reported record quarterly sales of hybrid vehicles.
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But Ford, a leader in pickup trucks alongside GM, continued to see sales slump for the important F-150 truck, its Q2 sales report on Wednesday showed. Archrival GM on Tuesday said its Q2 and first-half of 2024 sales showed it “pulling ahead in trucks,” with both the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks seeing higher sales over those periods.
Automakers — including GM, Toyota Motor (TM), Honda Motor (HMC) and Chrysler parent Stellantis (STLA) — reported new vehicle sales in the U.S. market for the second quarter on Tuesday. Ford followed a day later. Investors watched their hybrid and EV sales as the auto giants try to shift away from traditional combustion-engine cars.
Early Tuesday, Tesla (TSLA) surpassed expectations for global Q2 deliveries, but its sales fell for a second straight quarter. Tesla stock jumped above a key level. Tesla startup rival Rivian (RIVN) reported Q2 deliveries of electric vehicles as well.
Overall, U.S. new vehicle sales nudged up just 0.1% in Q2 vs. a year ago, according to Motor Intelligence. High interest rates and still-high vehicle prices continue to keep car buyers on the sidelines, experts say.
Plus, the June 19 cyberattack at software provider CDK likely put a dent in U.S. auto sales and EV sales.
Record EV Sales, Strong Truck Sales For GM
Cox Automotive’s Q2 sales estimate: 697,804 vehicles, up 1.2% year over year.
Results: GM delivered 696,086 vehicles in Q2, up 0.6% vs. a year ago. For the first six months of 2024, GM reported 1,290,319 deliveries, down 0.4%. Strong truck sales offset weak SUV sales, with Silverado sales up 5% and Sierra sales up 4% year to date.
For Q2, General Motors reported its best auto sales quarter since Q4 2020, as well as its best EV sales quarter ever.
GM delivered 21,930 EVs, up 40% vs. Q2 2023 and up 34% vs. Q1 2024.
Sales of new, Ultium-based EVs drove those gains. Cadillac Lyriq deliveries totaled more than 7,200 in Q2, up 441% vs. a year ago. Older Bolt EV sales plunged 90%. Electric vehicles remain a small though growing part of GM’s overall business, making up 3% of Q2 sales. The company has been trying to speed up output of newer EVs, after battery bottlenecks and other supply-chain issues.
In Q2, more than half of Lyriq EV buyers with trade-ins “were conquests from a competing manufacturer, including Tesla and Lexus,” GM said on Tuesday.
GM stock fell 0.8% to 46.56 in Wednesday’s stock market action. Shares show little progress after clearing a buy point of 46.16 on June 10.
The auto giant will report Q2 earnings on July 23 before the market open.
Toyota Sales
Q2 sales estimate: 642,902 vehicles, up 21.5% year over year.
Results: Toyota sold 621,549 vehicles in Q2, up 9%. Sales of hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles totaled 247,347, up 63%. Those EV and hybrid sales made up 40% of Toyota’s total Q2 U.S. sales.
Toyota Motor stock dipped 0.4% on Wednesday. Shares remain below a falling 50-day moving average.
Record Hybrid Sales, Weak F-150 Sales For Ford
Q2 sales estimate: 551,527 vehicles, up 4.5% year over year.
Results: Ford sold 536,050 vehicles in Q2, up 0.8%. Ford’s sales rose 3.6% in the first six months of 2024 to more than 1 million units, with gains across trucks, SUVs and cars.
In Q2, sales of Ford vehicles with internal combustion engines tumbled 5%. They slid 1.4% in the first half of 2024, dragged lower by the F-series trucks, the Ford sales release on Wednesday showed.
Sales of EVs vaulted 61% in Q2 to 23,957 , led by the Mustang Mach-E, Ford’s Model Y rival. Sales of hybrid vehicles jumped 56% to a record 53,822, led by the Maverick midsize truck, Ford said.
Similar to GM, Ford’s EV sales are a small but growing part of its business, at 4% of total sales in the first half of 2024. “The Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning are drawing customers from other brands” who are new to Ford, the sales release said, without naming the brand.
But Ford’s F-series trucks saw a further 6% sales decline in Q2. The F-series trucks are Ford’s top seller by far — and the company’s profit center. Ford hopes to stem the sales decline with a new F-150 model, which went on sale in March. In Q2, the F-series trucks saw a smaller drop than Q1’s 10% decline.
Offsetting the F-series woes, sales of the Maverick truck and Transit van are soaring to boost total Ford truck sales.
Ford stock eased 0.2% at 12.85 on Wednesday, holding above the recently retaken 50-day line.
The automaker reports Q2 earnings on July 24, after the market close.
Honda Sales
Q2 sales estimate: 365,719 vehicles, up 5.4% year over year.
Results: Honda sold 351,457 vehicles in Q2. For first half of 2024, Honda sold 690,281 vehicles, up 9%.
Honda stock edged up 0.3% on Wednesday, below a falling 50-day line.
Stellantis Sales
Q2 sales estimate: 337,906 vehicles, down 22.3% year over year.
Results: Stellantis sold 344,993 vehicles, down 21%.
Stellantis stock rose 0.5% on Wednesday, below a falling 50-day average.
Tesla, Rivian EV Sales
On Tuesday, Rivian said it produced 9,612 electric vehicles and delivered 13,790 EVs in Q2, in line with its expectations. The company backed full-year production guidance for 57,000 EVs.
For context, Rivian produced 13,980 EVs and delivered 13,588 EVs in the first quarter. The EV startup said it will report its Q2 earnings on Aug. 6 after the market close.
Tesla said Tuesday that it delivered 443,956 vehicles in Q2 while it produced 410,831 units. The EV giant delivered a combined 422,405 Model 3 and Model Y units along with 21,551 “other” vehicles. Its total EV sales were down 4% vs. last year’s 466,140 deliveries. However, it rose 15% from Q1.
Rivian stock popped nearly 7% on Tuesday and fell 1.8% on Wednesday, still just below the 200-day average. Tesla stock jumped 9.3% on Tuesday and advanced 6.9% on Wednesday, recovering the 200-day line.
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