Ford sales fall by 6.8% in ’21 despite 4Q gain

Ford Motor Co.’s U.S. sales dropped 6.8% year-over-year in 2021 to roughly 1.9 million vehicles, according to numbers released Wednesday.

The dip in sales was consistent with the story of the automotive industry as a whole, which saw sales slide due in large part to a semiconductor chip shortage that dampened auto production across the world for much of the year.

Still, the Dearborn, Mich., automaker managed to increase production and sales volume in the fourth quarter after being hit hard by the shortage earlier in the year. Ford said it was the best-selling automaker in the fourth quarter and the only U.S. seller to hit 500,000 sales in the threemonth period. It also touted its gains in the electric-vehicle market, where it was the No. 2 automaker in 2021 behind market leader Tesla Inc.

Ford also touted its F-Series truck franchise’s achieving its 45th straight year as the country’s best-selling truck. The FSeries notched 726,004 sales in 2021. Segment competitor Ram finished in second place with 569,388 pickups sold, while Chevrolet finished with 529,765 Silverado truck sales. General Motors Co.’s other truck-maker, GMC, sold 248,924 Sierra pickups.

“Ford finished the year strong, as the only U.S. automaker hitting the half million sales mark in the fourth quarter, making Ford America’s best-selling automaker,” Andrew Frick, Ford’s vice president of sales for the U.S. and Canada, said in a statement.

“On the strong success of Mustang Mach-E, Ford jumped into second place in U.S. electric vehicle sales behind just Tesla,” he added. “