Ford just posted its May sales, and the numbers aren’t good. Not every automaker shares monthly reports, but thus far, Ford has the worst decline we’ve seen. Sales fell on nearly every model with either a Blue Oval on the back or a Lincoln crest on the hood.
To be fair, this isn’t a catastrophic hit. But while Japanese and South Korean companies post gains and even records, Ford is down double-digits. You may have noticed that we’ve covered a lot of automaker sales data over the last few days, and that’s typical for the start of a new month. Curiously, of the companies who released their numbers, Ford is the only one who didn’t have a specific press release to say anything to say about it. Take that as you will.
Ford Sales Down Over 13%, Lincoln Falls Even Further
2025 Ford Bronco Sport front 3/4 angle in blue while driving on a dusty trailFord
From trucks to SUVs, to the one car it sells, Ford and its dealers had a very rough month. The sales total fell from 220,959 in May 2025 to 190,828 this year. That represents a 13.6% drop for Ford and Lincoln combined. Ford sales alone were down by 13.3%, clocking 181,627 sales. Meanwhile at Lincoln, the brand dropped 20.5% to 9,201.
Ford’s SUVs took the brunt of the lower sales, with the decision to end production of the Escape throwing a massive wrench in the works. Ford sold just 3,400 of the once popular SUV, off 80% from last year, and the number will quickly drop to zero. Meanwhile the Bronco Sport managed to capture approximately none of those buyers; sales of that one were down 8.3% to 13,272.
A Few Models Had Positive Figures
Which Ford models did post higher sales? The Explorer SUV, for a start. It had sales up 8.8%, and the model is up 18% on the year to 104,894 units. The Bronco was also up slightly, by around 5% to end the month at 15,389. The Ford Maverick was also a strong seller, as was the Transit work van. Sales of Ford’s big work trucks, the F-650 and F-750, saw sales up 6.4% to 1,183.
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F-Series Production Holding Back Sales
Ford F-150s at the factory in Dearborn, MI.Ford
Ford’s cash cow is the F-Series, which is also the best-selling model in the US (and has been since just about forever). The brand saw sales fall 13.3%, totaling 69,175 units in May. Ford has struggled to meet demand for the pickups; production was hampered by a fire at a major aluminum supplier, then more recently, a broken hood stamping machine caused delays.
Super Duty production is expected to start soon in Canada, and aluminum supplier Novellis is set to get back on track. This can’t happen too soon, because F-Series sales have fallen 15.1% for the year because of the shortages. That’s down 50,000 units for a total of 291,124 for the year thus far, matching up with Ford’s estimates on production shortages. The Blue Oval still leads the overall sales charge for America’s top seller, but Chevrolet is the closest it has been in a very long time.
We’ve glossed over Lincoln, but that’s because Ford has as well. The brand’s 9,201 units is down 20.5%, with sales fairly evenly split between Nautilus, Aviator, and Navigator.
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CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters
This is normally where we pepper in other facts and highlights that automakers mention in press releases. Items like “it’s the best year for this model,” or “off-road trims are doing great;” information that wouldn’t normally be conveyed from a primary sales sheet. That’s why it’s a little strange Ford has not added a release to go with its sales, though it’s possible an official announcement could come later.
But Ford is running out of time to turn things around. Chevrolet and Ram don’t report monthly sales, but in March, Silverado was nearly steady at around 127,000 sales, while Ram was charging hard with a 25% gain to nearly 100,000 units. We don’t think Ford will lose its sales crown this year, but seeing other automakers holding ground or improving suggests Ford’s woes go beyond mere market conditions.
