Ford’s first-half US sales fell 8.1% year-over-year, and VW was down 29.8%.
- Tesla delivered 564,743 Models S, 3, X, and Y the first of the year—globally. That’s up 46.3% compared with the first half a year earlier.
- Cox Automotive projects US sales accounted for about 49% of the company’s global total.
- Parsing the numbers as best as possible, it’s likely the Ford Mach-E outsold the Model S and the Model X.
In the interest of updating our list of top-10 automakers’ sales numbers for the first half of 2022, it is worth noting that Tesla delivered 564,743 Models S, 3, X, and Y over that period, up 46.3% compared with the first half a year earlier.
That was global sales—our list was about US sales.
We relied on an estimate by Cox Automotive for Tesla US sales projecting the EV maker delivered 274,588 vehicles here, about 49% of the company’s global total. The New York Times reported that Tesla blames its second-quarter production levels on a two-month shutdown of its Shanghai factory during a government coronavirus outbreak crackdown.
There’s no mention of the fact that Tesla’s Berlin Gigafactory opened about the same time, adding an unknown number of Model Ys compared with zero delivered in Europe the previous quarter. The Times’ report also compares Tesla to its old-school rivals on an apples v. oranges basis, noting that while the EV maker’s production continues to rise in the face of a global supply chain bottleneck, GM’s US deliveries “of new vehicles in the second quarter declined 15% from a year earlier.” It added that “Toyota Motor reported a drop of 23% in U.S. sales.”
While GM and Toyota both likely suffered similar production losses in their Chinese factories, a US-vs.-US-vs.-US sales comparo would be much more revealing, especially as Tesla faces a rapidly growing list of rival EVs.
Good or bad, Tesla’s second-quarter global sales numbers fell below analysts’ expectations.
Tesla
Why are these numbers important to car enthusiasts? In “normal times” at least, US car sales, especially when considered against product cycles, can give a good indication of supply vs. demand and whether there are any discounts to be had. On the long term it can give you a good idea of when, if, and how a certain model will be replaced. These are good indications of future model trends; it was easy to spot SUVs overtaking sedans a decade ago.
It was also a pretty good indicator of where the Detroit Three were headed, financially, from about 2006 to 2009.
Good or bad, Tesla’s second-quarter global sales numbers fell below analysts’ expectations, so it’s no surprise the company (which shut down its public relations department in late 2020, making it extra-difficult to get any useful information) posted production and deliveries on Saturday, July 2, early in a three-day weekend for the NASDAQ stock exchange.
Mustang Mach-E sales rose by 36.2% to 17,675. Compared to Tesla’s global sales number for its Models S and X of 30,886, the Mach-E probably outsold both here by a good 2500 units .
Ford
Meanwhile, Ford Motor Company has been messing with sales reporting consistency for several years now, delaying its release by one business day to get individual coverage. So here it is: Year-to-date sales fell 8.1% to 915,820, nearly 10,000 units below Cox Automotive’s late-June estimate, though Ford hastens to note that June 2022 over June 2021 sales were up 31.5%.
While sales of the nation’s bestselling Ford F-Series dropped 17.3% to 299,345 units for the first half, Mustang Mach-E sales rose by 36.2% to 17,675, an especially high percentage because production began several weeks into the first half of 2021. Compare that first-half ‘22 number to Tesla’s global sales number for its Models S and X of 30,886. If Cox’s U.S. estimate is about right, the Ford Mach-E probably outsold both here by a good 2500 units. We would know for sure if Tesla published its US sales numbers.
Volkswagen’s sales numbers came in too late on July 1 for our deadline, so here they are: Combined with Audi and Porsche, U.S. sales for the first half totaled 259,362, a 29.8% drop over H1 ’21. Individually, sales for the three brands answer the question; Where would you install your precious automotive-grade chips? VW brand sales fell 32.2%, Audi, off 31.4%, and Porsche, down just 11.7%.
Keyword: Tesla’s Sales Were Up 46.3% in the First Half—but That Was Globally