Ford EV and hybrid sales surge 65% in May

The Mustang Mach-E on display at the New York International Auto Show on March 28, 2024.Danielle DeVries | CNBC

DETROIT – Ford Motor's U.S. new vehicle sales rose 11.2% last month compared to May of last year, boosted by strong sales growth for all-electric and hybrid models.

The Detroit automaker on Tuesday reported roughly 65% increases in sales of both hybrid and all-electric vehicles. That's compared to a 5.6% increase in sales of Ford's traditional vehicles with internal combustion engines.

Despite the notable increases in hybrids and EVs, the sales in those segments totaled about 26,600 vehicles combined. That's only 14% of the automaker's more than 190,000 total sales last month.

The boost to EV sales is a conundrum for investors. Ford wants to grow EV sales to build scale and assist in offsetting tightening fuel economy standards and emissions, but the company's Model E electric vehicle unit continues to lose millions of dollars per quarter.

Ford reported in April the division lost $1.32 billion on 10,000 vehicles wholesaled from January through March. While the unit also includes EV-related business such as software, those losses equate to a loss of $132,000 for each vehicles the unit sells.

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