Ford reports strong demand for new vehicles — EV sales have tripled

Ford Motor Co on Tuesday reported strong demand for new vehicles in the United States in September amid inflation worries, with sales of its electric models tripling over last year.

"Demand remains strong with new retail orders rapidly expanding," Andrew Frick, Ford vice president, said in a statement.

Shares of the automaker were up 6% in morning trade as broader markets gained on easing U.S. Treasury yields. 

Ford's bullish commentary comes days after an inflation warning from the country's largest used-car retailer, CarMax Inc, which said softness in used consumer purchases spilled into last month.

Analysts are warning that red-hot demand for cars and trucks may lose steam in the coming quarters as rising interest rates discourage consumers from paying more money for vehicles.

However, inventory shortages were still at play for major automakers in the third quarter.

"September and Q3 sales are coming in exactly as expected. They are still stuck in low gear mostly because of inventory shortages," Cox Automotive analyst Michelle Krebs said.

Ford sold 142,644 vehicles in September, down 8.9% as compared to a year earlier, though sales of EVs were up 197%. More than 50% of retail sales were coming from previously placed orders — and retail orders for 2023 model-year vehicles were up 244%.

Its peers General Motors Co reported on Monday a 24% jump in quarterly sales while Toyota Motor's U.S. sales declined 7.1% to 526,017 vehicles in the same period.

The carmaker, which aims to catch up with electric vehicle (EV) industry leader Tesla Inc, saw its EV sales triple over last year powered by sales of pickup truck F-150 Lightning.

"F-150 Lightning remains one of Ford's fastest-turn in vehicles on dealer lots, turning in just eight days," Ford added. Sales of the Maverick small truck were even hotter, with it spending just five days on dealer lots. Sales of the Mustang Mach-E and  Bronco were also particularly strong.

This comes as Tesla said on Sunday it sold fewer-than-expected vehicles in the third quarter as deliveries lagged way behind production due to logistic hurdles.