(Reuters) – Ford Motor Co on Monday reported a ten.5% rise in U.S. gross sales for February, helped by sustained demand for household crossover SUVs, pickup vans and hybrid automobiles.
Gross sales of Ford’s hybrid automobiles, which embody electrified variants of its well-liked Maverick compact truck and Escape crossover, rose 32% to 12,045 items from a 12 months in the past. Gross sales of its SUVs had been up about 22% to 76,403 items.
“Hybrid automobiles proceed to be a progress section for Ford and gross sales have grown at a sooner price than the general U.S. trade for a lot of the final 12 months,” it mentioned.
Like different legacy automakers, Ford plans to shift its focus to high-margin hybrid and gas-powered automobiles amid early indicators of cooling demand for electrical automobiles.
Over the previous few months, Ford has minimize costs for its Mach E, and decreased manufacturing at its Michigan Rouge Electrical Car Heart to 1 shift beginning April 1.
The Detroit automaker’s general gross sales rose to 174,192 items, from about 157,606 items a 12 months in the past.
(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Modifying by Devika Syamnath)