Ford has been working overtime trying to get cars, trucks, and SUVs into the hands of buyers. When reporting on Q2 earnings and happenings, Ford CFO John Lawler said Ford had 18,000 incomplete vehicles waiting for semiconductor chips at the start of the new quarter. Plus, the Ford F-Series pickup trucks hit 63,341 sales for the year. What else is Ford up to behind the scenes?

Ford has 18,000 incomplete vehicles, including some Ford F-Series pickup trucks

Ford’s John Lawler spoke on the recent Q2 earnings phone call about some unfinished vehicles sitting on lots. In July of 2021, Ford Authority reported that Ford had around 70,000 cars, trucks, and SUVs waiting for semiconductor chips. On a recent call, Lawler noted that Ford started the quarter with 53,000 incomplete vehicles.

At the end of the quarter, that number was down to 18,000 incomplete cars. Ford is focusing on getting the last 18,000 vehicles finished and on the road for the next quarter.

Lawler said that when you look at the numbers, volume increases in North America significantly impacted sales in the second quarter. These numbers went down in the first half for North America, but there was better volume growth in other areas that helped. However, despite slowdowns, sales for the popular Ford F-150, Super Duty, Maverick, and other Ford F-Series trucks are having a record year.

Ford F-Series pickup trucks are popular but don’t forget the SUVs and vans

Ford has a lot of popular vehicles on the market right now and hasn’t been able to keep up with production demand. Vehicles like the Ford F-150, the Lightning electric truck, and the Ford Explorer SUV have frequently been spotted sitting around in lots. The automaker tried removing features impacting the production speed, but that only helped so much.

Ford recently reported July 2022 U.S. sales results, calling itself America’s number one brand for the month. The press release says many Ford F-150 pickup trucks and Ford Super Duty sales are from previous customer orders. That means someone placed an order for the truck at some point and has been waiting for it. Ford says that over 50% of retail sales come from previously placed orders for the fourth month in a row.

Ford F-Series pickup trucks hit 63,341 sales so far this year, up 21.1% over last year.
The automaker says that approximately 65% of F-Series retail sales came from previously placed customer orders. This aligns with Ford’s move toward a more ‘built-to-order’ business model instead of having large numbers of vehicles sitting on a dealership lot.

The 2023 Maverick isn’t even out yet, but people are ready to place an order

Last month, some early buyers of the popular Ford Maverick compact truck received notice the order might roll over to 2023. Back in July, Ford said it was opening the order banks in August for the 2023 Ford Maverick. Production was scheduled to start at the end of October. Now, Ford says the ordering banks will open on September 15, 2022, and production is slated to begin on November 14, 2022.

The popularity of its lineup combined with the semiconductor chip shortages have left the automaker scrambling to keep up. The good news is that Ford has popular cars, trucks, and SUVs. The bad news is that it can’t keep up with that popularity. Ford CFO John Lawler seems confident the chip shortages will come to an end next year.

Ford posted some record numbers during the Q2 earnings report, and Q3 is well underway. If Ford can continue to increase production on the Ford F-Series pickup trucks, Mavericks, Transit vans, and all the SUVs in between, it could have a record year on its hands.