In 2023, Ford’s U.S. market share was around 13 percent, trailing General Motors and Toyota Motor. As the two largest U.S. manufacturers, Ford and GM are relentless competitors in the global automobile industry.

This statistic represents Ford's share of the Canadian light truck market between November 2017 and 2019. In November 2019, the Ford Motor Company accounted for approximately 16 percent of light truck sales in Canada.

This statistic shows the number of cars sold by Ford in the Republic of Ireland between 2009 and 2019. In the period of consideration, Irish sales of Ford cars oscillated. From 2009 to 2016, Ford sales grew to its peak, at approximately 14.7 thousand units as of 2016. From 2017 onwards, Irish Ford sales declined and has fluctuated. In 2019, Ford sales amounted to 9.6 thousand units, a decrease of roughly 34 percent in comparison with the peak year. Irish passenger car sales amounted to 117,100 units as of 2019. Ford held 8.22 percent of the market share on that year, being the fourth leading marque.

At about 2.2 million units, the U.S. is the number one sales market for the Ford Motor Company. Globally, sales grew by about 57,000 units between 2023 and 2024. Slow sales in international markets China is Ford's second-largest market, despite reporting lower sales in 2024. Ford may have been worried about this market, as the United States and China were on the brink of an economic conflict. Tensions remain high as President Biden continues his term in office. The two nations are among the three largest economies in the world. With them is the European Union. There, Ford sales are also under threat. The UK's withdrawal from the European Union disrupts Fords supply chains: three plants operate in the UK, which has now been cut off from assembly locations in the EU. The UK was traditionally Ford's largest market in Europe. Wholesales in the UK came to around 242,000 units in 2024, and dealerships recorded lower monthly sales of Ford vehicles to end customers in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 2024 when compared to 2019. However, the Ford Puma was the best-selling model in the UK in 2024. Declining domestic market share The Ford Motor Company is among the leading manufacturers in its domestic market, surpassed only by the General Motors Company and Toyota Motor Corporation. This success in the United States' market can be mostly attributed to the manufacturer's eponymous brand, Ford, which was the best-selling brand in the country that year. Its F-Series pickup truck was also among the bestsellers of that type, giving Ford a competitive advantage in its domestic market as light trucks, including pickups, were more popular with consumers than passenger cars.

The number of Ford-built vehicles sold to customers throughout the United States increased from roughly 479,700 to around 484,500 units between the fourth quarter of 2022 and that same period in 2023. The growth was driven by a rise in both Ford and Lincoln sales. Ford introduced a program allowing car customers to defer payments amid the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., where motor vehicle sales were relatively stable as of May 2023. Product launches in 2020 In an effort to reduce costs and boost profitability, Ford is in the midst of an overhaul process. Restructuring its activities means a cut in some partnerships and the closure of some plants, including halting the manufacture of vehicles in India for direct sale in the country. Ford's workforce had already decreased to 177,000 employees in 2023. 2023 saw crucial product development, including the launch of the 2023 Ford Mustang. New direction ahead Looking to remain a competitive player in the industry, Ford committed almost 23.6 billion U.S. dollars to research and development in between 2021 and 2023. The company has been viewing AI as a new, lucrative direction for the company to develop partially autonomous vehicles. As such, Ford has announced plans to invest over four billion U.S. dollars in AI technology development, establishing Latitude AI in March 2023.

In 2024, the ranking of the world’s largest car brands was topped by Toyota with a market share of around 10.7 percent. The Toyota brand is owned by Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation, the world's largest motor vehicle manufacturer. New trends in the auto industry In light of growing environmental awareness and increasing efforts to connect vehicles, automotive manufacturers are faced with a variety of new challenges. Market trends such as the shift to lighter materials, as well as the trend towards electric and autonomous vehicles are set to revolutionize the industry. Palo Alto-based Tesla Motors is currently among those at the vanguard of the trend towards electrification, along with the Chinese car manufacturer BYD. Tesla delivered nearly 1.79 million vehicles in 2024, meaning that Volkswagen Group's sales tally is over five times as much. The state of the global auto industry Car sales worldwide have dipped between 2019 and 2020 as a result of the economic downturn generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. 2021 sales recovered, despite remaining below 2019 levels, but supply chain shortages led to a slow recovery of sales in 2022. By the end of 2023, the global car sales volume had grown over pre-pandemic levels. China was the largest automobile market based on new passenger car registrations, recording close to 25.8 million units sold. It was followed by the United States and Europe. China was also the leading passenger car producing country in 2023.

As of December 2023, the Ford Motor Company has sold about 1.9 million vehicles under its namesake brand for the year. This figure represents a growth of about 7.9 percent year-on-year. U.S. auto sales dipped down in 2021 amid the global chip shortage.

In 2024, Ford was the second most popular car brand in the United Kingdom after Volkswagen. The Detroit-based company sold some 144,100 vehicles in the UK and reached a market share of about 7.6 percent that year. Volkswagen held some 8.5 percent of the market. Ford in the United Kingdom Brexit casts its shadow over the auto industry, and hence, the company decided to shut down its plant in Bridgend, adding on to the growing list of automakers in the process of ceasing operations at car production plants in the United Kingdom. That said, the Ford Motor Company will remain present in the United Kingdom, continuing to operate an engine plant in Dagenham. Car sales in the United Kingdom were down 89 percent in May 2020, due to closed dealerships and consumer spending uncertainty amid the coronavirus pandemic. By the end of December 2020, UK car sales were down by almost eleven percent compared with 2019.

In December 2019, Land Rover accounted for roughly 3 percent of car sales in the United Kingdom (UK). When compared to the same month in the years prior, we see that Land Rover's December market share is quite constant. In the same time period, Jaguar’s market share had seen slight fluctuations, but amounted to an average of 1.3 percent. The two British luxury car brands have been a subsidiary of Tata Motors since 2008 and have before been individually owned.

 Jaguar Land Rover leading UK car producer  

Jaguar Land Rover is the leading UK based car manufacturer. In 2018, the company had produced 449,304 vehicles through its assembly plants in Birmingham, Halewood and Solihull. As a result, Jaguar Land Rover accounted for nearly 30 percent of all passenger cars manufactured in the UK, with Nissan and MINI making up the next largest shares.

 Ford is market leader in UK  

As for overall market shares, Ford was the leading automobile brand in the UK as of June 2019. Despite variations in the months of 2018, the US based company had held an average market share of roughly 11 percent across the year. Ford was closely followed by Volkswagen, which had overtaken Ford in four out of 11 months recorded in 2018.

General Motors was the market leader in terms of U.S. light vehicle sales in 2024. Between January and December 2024, consumers in the United States bought around 2.7 million GM vehicles, making General Motors the producer of approximately 16.8 percent of the automobiles sold in the U.S. during that time.  Rebounding after a pandemic-related dip U.S. light-vehicle sales are stalling: the U.S. automotive industry sold roughly 15.86 million light vehicles between January and December 2024. This compares to about 15.5 million units one year before and close to 17 million vehicles in 2019. The trend is slightly different for America’s most popular manufacturer. GM’s global light vehicle sales declined in 2024, compared with the figures reported for the same twelve months in 2023. The U.S. automotive industry had several good years between 2015 and 2018, when consumers purchased more than 17 million light vehicles annually for an unprecedented four years in a row. This stellar spell came to an end in 2019. Slowing economies and the COVID-19 pandemic had a strong negative effect on vehicle production and consumption. The U.S. auto market had high hopes for a V-shaped recovery in 2021 and 2022, but the reality was different. Light vehicle sales in North America dropped to 16.4 million in 2022, after encouraging sales in 2021. The regional market was growing in 2024, but had yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. A competitive market The automobile market in the United States is a competitive space, with Toyota Motor trailing General Motors in the ranking. Chevrolet, a division of General Motors, recorded the second-best initial quality in the U.S. as of May 2024. It was preceded by Ram. Lexus, a subsidiary of Toyota, ranked eigth in this quality ranking but sixth in overall U.S. consumer satisfaction in 2024, with an index score three points above its main luxury car competitor, BMW. General Motors brands were at a similar position in the ranking, with the automaker's Cadillac brand earning the same index score as Lexus.

Used car dealers in the United States had a market size of 138.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2021. While the industry value dipped at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, used car sales quickly recovered, with used car dealers' market value hiking above its pre-pandemic levels.

The used car market boom

The used car market has been gaining steam since 2017 when the volume of used light vehicles sold hiked by just under 11 percent year-over-year to 42.7 million sales. By 2021, around 43.1 million used light vehicles were sold in the U.S, representing just under 74 percent of the total light vehicle sales in the country. While sales increased, the average used vehicle selling price also inflated—up 21 percent year-over-year in 2021—with vans, sport-utility vehicles, and crossover utility vehicles recording the steepest price increase. The semiconductor shortage, forcing halts in new vehicle production, is partly responsible for this boom in the used car market. Most used vehicle retail inventory in June 2022 was priced above 35,000 U.S. dollars, making the used car market increasingly inaccessible to consumers.

Light trucks at the forefront of sales

U.S. consumer satisfaction with their overall shopping experience dropped in 2021, with used car buyers reporting a satisfaction rate of 65 percent, compared to 71 percent in 2020. While 2021 satisfaction is higher than in 2019, this denotes the impact of higher prices on customers. Most consumers opted for used light trucks instead of used automobiles. The net purchase of used light trucks spiked in the third quarter of 2019, reaching 194.7 billion U.S. dollars in the second quarter of 2022, while auto sales had a net purchase value of 52 billion U.S. dollars that same quarter. The Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, and Ram Pickup 1500 were the 2016 to 2020 MY models with the largest share of used car sales in the U.S. Ford was also the third best-selling manufacturer for new vehicles in the U.S.

Ford trucks' market share in Romania nearly doubled from 2018 to 2019. By 2020, it was expect that Ford Trucks would have a market share worth 11 percent.

In 2023, the number of Ford-badged vehicles sold to customers throughout Europe amounted to some 518,400. During the past few years, Ford sales were heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and suffered production halts amidst the automotive semiconductor shortage. The most dramatic fall in sales was experienced in 2019, the rate of sales dropping by 33 percent.

The Ford Motor Company reported revenue streams of nearly 185 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. This figure represents a growth in revenue of nearly five percent year-on-year. Vehicle wholesales grew from around 4.4 million units in 2023 to approximately 4.5 million units in 2024. The fiscal year end of the company is December, 31st. A challenging year for the automotive industry Though Ford's revenue appeared to trend upward from 2014 to 2018, the following years' results represented a sharp decline. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the automotive industry worldwide, and Ford was no exception: its revenue decreased 22 percent year-on-year, displaying the lowest result since the Great Recession. Despite an increase in the manufacturer's performance in 2021, the effects of the pandemic are still felt throughout its recovery. While vehicle sales started trending upwards again in the third quarter of 2020, the automotive industry was hit by different challenges in 2021: namely, the global chip shortage. The 2023 fiscal year brought its own share of hurdles for Ford, especially as strikes at its U.S. assembly plants impacted its output. Ford and the future In May 2021, Ford announced plans to expand into emerging markets, such as connected vehicles and subscription services. Moreover, the company intended to invest more than 30 billion U.S. dollars in electric vehicles through 2025 and it forecasted 40 to 50 percent of the sales volume will come from electric vehicle sales by 2030. That same month, the American automaker revealed the new electric model of its most popular F-Series pickup, the F-150. However, Ford is planning to scale back its F-150 Lightning truck production in 2024, to match up with a slowing demand for electric vehicles. In March 2023, the company established Latitude AI, to develop new automated driving technology.

At around 16.8 percent, General Motors held the largest share of the auto market in the United States in 2024. General Motors remained the most successful automotive manufacturer in the United States. Between 2004 and 2021, however, the manufacturer lost market share, while that of Toyota rose as a result of an increased focus on light truck models in the lineup. This shifted in 2022, but 2023 led to another slight drop in market share of the American automaker. Asian manufacturers dominate non-domestic competition Among the non-domestic manufacturers, Asian automakers proved to be the most successful group. Asian car brands selling vehicles to customers in the United States include Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, and Subaru. Toyota was also among the most valuable automotive brands worldwide as of June 2024. Both Toyota and Lexus were among the ten brands with the highest consumer satisfaction in the United States that same year. How many brands do auto manufacturers own? General Motors, Ford, and Toyota are the leading automotive manufacturers based on market share in the United States. The Ford Motor Company mainly sells vehicles under its namesake brand, while the Toyota Motor Corporation offers several brands, including Lexus and Toyota. General Motors sells vehicles under various brands, including Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC. In 2017, GM and PSA Group closed a deal in which the French carmaker acquired GM's Opel and Vauxhall brands.

The number of battery electric vehicles sold in the United States came to about 1.3 millions in 2024, with sales of Tesla models accounting for around 48.7 percent of that figure. Second-ranked Ford accounted for only 7.5 percent of U.S. battery electric vehicle sales. Tesla puts electric vehicle sales in the fast lane The Tesla Model Y was the best-selling all-electric car in the United States in 2024, with the Model 3 a strong runner-up. Tesla enjoyed a successful year in 2024, with sales in the United States generating revenues of around 47.7 billion U.S. dollars. Tesla’s sales performance in 2024 not only strengthened its position as one of the market leaders in the EV market, but it also made an impression on the overall automotive market in the United States. Positive news regarding battery charge time One of the main talking points regarding battery electric vehicles is the time it takes to charge them. The number of publicly available fast chargers is increasing across the United States, and these are proving essential for vehicle users who wish to drive long distances. Vehicles equipped with a fast-charging socket can be charged much quicker because fast chargers provide power directly to the battery, without the need for an in-car inverter. A vehicle with a battery capacity of 75 kWh can, for example, be charged to a suitable level in around one hour using a quick charger delivering 50 kW of power.

Over the course of 2019, Toyota sold some 105,000 passenger cars in the United Kingdom. This was roughly 3.2 percent more than were sold in the same time period the previous year, with the Japanese automaker having performed consistently well in the previous five years. Figures tend to spike in March and September as these are the months when the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency releases new registration plates, fueling sales. The Toyota Motor Corporation was established in 1937 and has since become one of the most valuable motor vehicle brands in the world.

Leading car brands

Toyota is commonly found among the leading car companies in the UK. In September 2019 it held a market share of 5.2 percent, which made it the sixth most popular car brand that month. The ranking was most often led by U.S. based manufacturer Ford. Toyota’s market share was highest in September 2018 when it amounted to 5.63 percent.

Toyota’s hybrid models

As the creator of the first mass-produced electric hybrid car – the Prius, Toyota is often associated with electric vehicle manufacturing. After first being introduced in 2011, Yaris has become Toyota’s most popular hybrid model, with 17,001 units sold in 2018. By comparison, Prius sales only amounted to 4,187 units.

Light truck retail sales in the United States increased to 12.9 million units in 2024. This was a year-over-year increase in sales of some 3.94 percent compared to 2023. In contrast, 2022 was the second drop in sales in a decade, after the drop reported in 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales had been increasing since 2010, when the auto industry began recovering from low vehicle purchases after the 2008-2009 financial crisis. In 2024, sales of light trucks accounted for about 81.2 percent of the approximately 15.9 million light vehicles sold in the United States. Ford, with its signature truck, the Ford F-150, was one of the leading North American car brands in the United States. Why are consumers buying trucks now? Before the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, the U.S. economy had largely recovered from the woes of the financial crisis and unemployment in the United States fell to 3.7 percent in 2019. This meant that consumers were better able to purchase new vehicles. Similarly, due to lower gasoline and diesel fuel prices, motorists were more willing to buy trucks over smaller, more fuel-efficient sedans. 2022 presented a challenge for this automotive market, with Russia's war on Ukraine leading to motor fuel price inflation and to higher new and used car prices.

There were 34 new car models offered in the U.S. market in 2021, down from 42 new models the previous year. Overall, the number of new models offered each year is tipped to almost double by 2025, reaching some 62 new car models that year.

The U.S. sport utility vehicle market Between 2011 and 2020, crossovers made up the largest share of the country’s automobile market, accounting for 38 percent of new car models during this period of time. It is expected that the crossover segment will gain additional market share between 2022 and 2025, with every second new model being a crossover. Toyota was the leading sport utility vehicle manufacturer in the first half of 2021, the Toyota RAV4 being the best-selling SUV in the U.S. market at some 114,225 units. The same model totaled around 995,762 sales worldwide in 2020.

Car models offered in the U.S. market

In terms of U.S. passenger car sales, Ford was the most important car brand as of 2020, followed by Toyota, Chevrolet, and Honda. About 2.2 million passenger cars were produced in the United States in 2020, the lowest number since 2010. As of 2020, the Ford F-Series was among the best selling car or light truck models in the world, topping 968,000 sales that year. The Ford F-Series, which have been available since the 1940s, is a series of light-duty trucks and medium-duty trucks. Ford's second best selling passenger car is the Ford Focus, which began production in 1998 under the Ford Motor Company in Europe and soon after moved to North America in 1999.

The Ford Motor Company reported total debt around 158.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. Total debt comprises automotive debt, credit debt, and other debt. The Ford Motor Company’s debt In 2008, when the global economy tumbled into recession, the CEOs of all Big Three US automakers flew into Washington DC to plead for emergency government aid. Unlike General Motors and Chrysler, Ford’s executive Alan Mulally decided against a rescue package from Congress, although the firm recorded losses of around 15 billion US dollars in 2008 – which represented an annual loss of about 11 billion US dollars. The situation was further exacerbated when the company lost market share to Asian carmakers: The automobile manufacturer’s U.S. market share declined by almost nine percent between 1999 and 2009. In order to shave down the significant debt obligations it had, the Ford Motor Company underwent a restructuring process which included the elimination of various brands from its portfolio. As a result, the rating for Ford’s bonds was raised from junk to BB in 2010. In the fiscal year of 2012, the Ford Motor Company reported total debt of around 90 billion US dollars, down from about 154 billion US dollars in the fiscal year of 2008. Founded and incorporated in 1903 by Henry Ford, the Ford Motor Company is headquartered just 15 minutes away from Detroit, the center of the U.S. automotive manufacturing industry. In order to meet the overwhelming demand for its Model T vehicles, the company was the first automaker worldwide to perfect assembly line production. The company still produces highly sought-after models today, including the Ford F-Series, one of the best selling light truck models worldwide. The carmaker’s wholly owned brands include the Ford marque and Lincoln.