Ford Motor stated that its U.S. gross sales rose 5.9% in July from a yr in the past, as demand for its pickup vehicles and the Bronco SUV greater than offset a droop in EV deliveries.

The Detroit automaker on Wednesday reported new automobile gross sales of 173,639 within the U.S. for the month, up from a robust 163,942 a yr in the past because it was recovering from pandemic-era supply-chain challenges.  

Gross sales of Ford’s F-Collection pickups, an vital revenue driver, rose 8.2% within the month to 68,536. However gross sales of the electrical F-150 Lightning dropped greater than 28% from a yr in the past, to only 1,552 vehicles, after the corporate shut down the Lightning’s manufacturing facility for six weeks to put in manufacturing upgrades.

The Lightning’s manufacturing facility reopened earlier this week. Ford stated on Tuesday that orders for the Lightning had jumped sixfold after worth cuts in mid-July.

The corporate stated that it anticipates Lightning gross sales will likely be gradual by mid-September because it rebuilds supplier inventories of the mannequin, however that it expects to construct greater than 70,000 Lightnings in 2023. Via July, Ford delivered simply 10,309 Lightnings to U.S. clients.

The manufacturing facility upgrades will give Ford the capability to supply 150,000 Lightnings per yr as soon as they’re totally up and working this fall.

Gross sales of the electrical Mustang Mach-E have been additionally fell in July by almost 21%, following a separate manufacturing facility shutdown and improve earlier this yr. However gross sales of Ford’s different EV, the E-Transit industrial van, rose over 50% to 791 items in July.

Ford stated final week that it expects its EV unit, known as Ford Mannequin e, to lose $4.5 billion in 2023 because it spends closely to ramp as much as a manufacturing fee of 600,000 EVs yearly someday in 2024.

Whereas Ford has been working by manufacturing points with its electrical fashions, its internal-combustion and hybrid fashions have continued to generate sturdy outcomes and earnings. Gross sales of the Bronco SUV climbed over 20% in July, to 12,755, and gross sales of the smaller Ranger and Maverick pickups rose 8.6% and 13.5%, respectively, from a yr in the past.

U.S. gross sales of all Ford autos, together with EVs and Lincoln-brand fashions, totaled 1,181,207 by July, up 9.4% from the identical interval in 2022.