The locally-made Ford Explorer SUV saw sales drop 2.8% in 2021, largely due to widespread chip shortages that shut down the Chicago assembly plant for weeks and left many batches of cars new half empty for much of the year. .

Explorer sales fell more than 20% in December.

Overall, Ford and Lincoln sales fell 17.1% to 173,740 units last month, from 209,520 units in December 2020.

In 2021, Ford and Lincoln sales fell 6.8% to 1.9 million units, from 2 million units the previous year.

In December, the Dearborn, Mich.-Based automaker saw a 19.9% ​​drop in retail sales, a 17.7% drop in retail truck sales, a 14.1% drop in retail SUV sales and a 137.8% increase in electrified retail sales, which started from a small pedestal. Ford’s overall truck sales fell 15.5% and overall SUV sales fell 11.1% in December.

Ford has phased out low-margin cars, selling just 4,664 last month, down 66.8% from 14,040 in December 2020. It has shifted its strategy to focus on pickup trucks and trucks. More expensive, higher-margin SUVs that increase its profit margin. As part of an industry-wide shift to electrification, it now predicts it will become the second-largest electric vehicle maker in the United States while aiming for the top spot.

“Ford ended the year strong, as the only American automaker to hit half a million fourth quarter sales, making Ford the best-selling automaker in the United States,” said Andrew Frick, Vice President, Ford Sales US and Canada. of Mustang Mach-E, Ford has climbed to second place in electric vehicle sales in the United States behind Tesla. Last year was a pivotal year for Ford in the electrified vehicle segment and this year we continue to grow by adding the F-150 Lightning and E-Transit to our electric vehicle lineup. Turning to the new year, Ford recorded just over 70,000 new vehicle orders in December, which will ensure continued momentum through 2022. “

In December, Ford sold 20,715 units of the Explorer, which is manufactured at the Chicago Assembly Plant in the far south near the state border, up from 26,081 units in the same month in 2020. After semiconductor shortages and repeated plant shutdowns, Explorer sales fell 20.6% year-on-year in December and 2.8% year-over-year 2021.

In 2019, Ford began manufacturing the Lincoln Aviator at the Chicago Assembly Plant after phasing out the Lincoln MKS and Ford Taurus. Sales of the Lincoln SUV fell 48% to 1,640 units last month, down from 3,154 in the same period a year earlier. Sales of aviators fell 9.3% to 20,924 units sold in 2021, from 23,080 units the year before.

Ford employs more than 5,810 workers at the Chicago Assembly Plant and 1,290 at the Chicago Stamping Plant on US 30 in Chicago Heights. They were often out of work last year after the plant was shut down several times due to a lack of semiconductors used in reversing cameras, lane assist and other modern features that drivers want. ‘wait in the new vehicles.