January sales figures are starting to roll in from across the industry, and among those not off to the greatest of starts in the new year is Ford, whose data shows it sold 128,260 cars in the US in January – a 6% drop from the 136,474 units it shifted in the same period in 2025.
It’s disheartening news for Ford fans amid an otherwise strong January market, but there are a few easily-explained reasons behind the drop, and it’s far from bad news for every model sold by the Blue Oval.
Why the decline?
The overall 6% drop can mostly be attributed to several vehicles being discontinued. Production of the popular Escape wound up at the end of last year, so the 3,418 examples Ford sold in January likely all came from existing inventory, hence its 65.5% drop from 9,902 sales last January.
It’s a similar story with the F-150 Lightning: that, too, ended production in late 2025, leading to just 647 examples finding homes in January – a 66% drop. On the subject of electric vehicles, the Mustang Mach-E had a particularly brutal month: just 1,040 were sold, representing a 70.5% decline versus January 2025. That was no doubt partly driven by the end of the EV tax credit in the intervening 12 months.
Mustang Sales Leap
Sales did grow year-on-year for plenty of core Ford models. The Bronco was up 19.4% compared to January 2025, the Bronco Sport by 13.5%, the Ranger by 26% and the Explorer by 30.7%.
The real star of the show, though, was the only traditional car Ford still sells, the Mustang. 3,609 examples of the pony car found homes in January 2026, compared to 2,399 in January 2025 – an increase of 50.4%.
This is perhaps down to the Mustang remaining one of the last reasonably affordable V8 sports cars on sale – the Camaro is dead, the absence of a Hemi is still conspicuous in the new Dodge Charger, and the Lexus RC F was finally shuffled out of production last year. The Mustang family, meanwhile, continues to grow, with the reveal of the new supercharged Dark Horse SC in January.
What’s Next?
With electric demand still inconsistent, Ford announced plans last year to reinvest more in hybrid and gas powertrains, including a new range-extender EV to replace the all-electric F-150 Lightning. That’s likely still a couple of years out, though, as is a replacement for the Escape.
It’s nevertheless still putting plenty of money into EV development, with its new ‘Universal’ platform for affordable electric cars and trucks. The first model on those underpinnings, though, isn’t due to arrive until 2027. With few major product reveals in the pipeline, then, Ford may need to weather a tricky 2026 in terms of overall sales, but the ongoing popularity of most of its gas-powered SUVs and trucks, plus the Mustang’s strong growth, don’t signal too much cause for alarm.
