Initial sales results for the Ford Mustang Mach-E electric SUV are tracking with early estimates, and are attracting new customers to the Ford brand, the automaker’s first-quarter 2021 sales results show.
Ford said it moved 6,614 vehicles off U.S. dealership lots in Q1. This is exactly on pace with what the automaker suggested shortly after the SUV’s 2019 reveal, on track for 25,000 to 30,000 sales annually—higher volumes than the automaker would need to do if it were only a compliance car.
The average amount of time a Mach-E spent on a dealership lot before being sold was also just seven days, according to Ford. That dwell time is an important metric for demand in the industry.
Ford also said nearly 70% of Mach-E sales came from competitor brands. These sales—known as “conquest sales” in the industry—are another important metric for automakers, not only because of inherent competitiveness but because “conquests” indicate a model is building or growing market share, rather than cannibalizing sales from an automaker’s other products.
2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E
While use of the Mustang name on an electric SUV has proven controversial, the Mach-E itself has proven to be a solid effort, which is why we named it Green Car Reports’ Best Car to Buy 2021. We felt the Mach-E was better looking and better to drive than the Tesla Model Y, and it managed to convince some editors skeptical of Tesla’s vision of the future to see the light.
The Mach-E is also the first electric SUV not from Tesla to reach an EPA-rated range of up to 300 miles, and we found real-world highway range at 70 mph isn’t far behind that of Model Y.
Still, Ford is a long way from EV dominance. The Chevrolet Bolt EV sold 6,236 units in the last three months of 2020 (the most recent with available data), according to industry trade journal Automotive News.
The Bolt EV is getting an update for the 2022 model year, with a Bolt EUV variant joining the lineup. To help compensate for the phase-out of General Motors’ federal EV tax credit, the Bolt EV also gets a price cut to $31,995—significantly undercutting the Mach-E. While the Bolt EV and Mach-E are two very different vehicles, perhaps we’ll see the old Ford vs. Chevy rivalry take on a new form?
View original article at: “https://www.greencarreports.com//news/1131783_ford-mustang-mach-e-moving-quickly-off-dealer-lots-sales-on-pace-with-early-estimates”
