Ford’s first quarter sales fell 8.8%, so the company brought back employee pricing for all on May 1. The offer runs through July 6 and consumers can save around $2,000 on a number of models including the Bronco, Bronco Sport, and Mustang.
Unfortunately for Ford, the incentive isn’t working as combined May sales tumbled 13.6% compared to a year ago. The automaker sold 190,828 vehicles last month, which was down 30,131 units from 2025.
The drop can largely be blamed on Ford’s own decisions as sales of the discontinued Escape plunged 80.3% to 3,427 units. It’s also worth noting, once again, that Escape buyers aren’t migrating to the Bronco Sport as sales of the crossover dropped 8.3%.
Interestingly, the Mustang Mach-E doesn’t seem to be benefiting from high gas prices. Sales were down 44% to 2,647 units, which stands in sharp contrast to the Hyundai Ioniq 5. That model celebrated its best May ever as sales jumped 28% to 5,002 units.
Speaking of declines, the Expedition dropped 24.4%, while the F-Series fell 13.3%. The Ranger plunged 23.3%, while the Mustang saw a slight 1.8% decline.
It wasn’t all bad news as the Explorer was up 8.8% to 22,316 units. The Bronco also reported a 5.2% increase, while the Maverick was up 10%.
While overall Ford sales fell 13.3% to 181,627 units, Lincoln plummeted 20.5% to 9,201 vehicles. A large part of this can be chalked up to the elimination of the entry-level Corsair. Sales of that model dropped 65.7% as inventories are starting to dry up.
The bad news was compounded by the fact that every other vehicle also experienced declines. The gas-guzzling Navigator fell 10.8%, while the Nautilus and Aviator followed with declines of 7.6% and 6.1%, respectively.
While there’s a lot of blame to go around, much of it can be pinned on the Blue Oval itself. Besides axing the Escape and Corsair, Ford no longer offers a hybrid crossover for mainstream consumers. That looks like an increasingly dumb move, especially when gas prices are over $4 per gallon and competitors offer multiple hybrids.
Model May 26 May 25 % Chg YTD 26 YTD 25 % Chg Bronco Sport 13,272 14,472 -8.3 58,809 59,721 -1.5 Escape 3,427 17,395 -80.3 20,874 67,655 -69.1 Bronco 15,389 14,629 5.2 63,659 61,624 3.3 Mustang Mach-E 2,647 4,724 -44.0 9,917 19,258 -48.5 Edge 0 0 N/A 0 3,040 -100.0 Explorer 22,316 20,504 8.8 104,894 88,807 18.1 Expedition 8,537 11,298 -24.4 32,842 35,896 -8.5 Ford SUVs 65,588 83,022 -21.0 290,995 336,001 -13.4 F-Series 69,175 79,817 -13.3 291,124 342,971 -15.1 *F-150 Lightning 1,046 1,902 -45.0 3,990 10,829 -63.2 Ranger 4,849 6,319 -23.3 27,869 28,238 -1.3 Maverick 17,055 15,508 10.0 65,112 73,706 -11.7 E-Series 2,998 3,379 -11.3 15,245 16,757 -9.0 Transit 15,859 15,219 4.2 65,156 62,139 4.9 *E-Transit 76 97 -21.6 377 4,045 -90.7 Mustang 4,920 5,010 -1.8 24,824 19,309 28.6 Total 181,627 209,386 -13.3 784,872 884,006 -11.2
Model May 26 May 25 % Chg YTD 26 YTD 25 % Chg Corsair 851 2,483 -65.7 7,535 10,957 -31.2 Nautilus 3,232 3,498 -7.6 15,044 16,003 -6.0 Aviator 2,582 2,749 -6.1 10,901 10,313 5.7 Navigator 2,536 2,843 -10.8 8,458 9,646 -12.3 Total 9,201 11,573 -20.5 41,938 46,919 -10.6