Tesla Motors continues to dominate the US electric vehicle (EV) market, but Ford Motor Company lost the title of the second-best seller to General Motors (GM) in the first quarter of this year.

GM sold a total of 20,670 EVs during the January through March quarter of 2023, easily outshining Ford, which could sell only 10,866 EVs during the quarter under review. GM sold nearly 19,700 units of the Bolt EVs, 968 units of the Cadillac Lyriqs and merely two units of the GMC Hummer EV Pickups. On the other hand, while Ford sold a total of 5,407 units of the Mustang Mach-E, 4,291units of the F-150 Lightning pickup trucks, and 1,168 units of the E-Transit.

Thus, GM sold almost twice as many EVs as Ford. The vast majority of GM’s EV sales volume was comprised of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV models, which start at an affordable starting price of $30,000.

Ford’s Cuautitlan, Mexico-based production plant, which is responsible for producing the Mach-E, remained down for most of the first three months as the automobile manufacturer kept equipping it with new machinery to boost production to 210,000 units by the end of current year. Production of the Lightning pickup truck at the Dearborn-based plant was also remained down for more than a month due to a battery-related issue.

The aforementioned figures include three brands, viz. the Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC. It is worth-mentioning here that the world-renowned automobile brand counts the commercial vehicle brand BrightDrop separately. The figures also show that the Detroit-based manufacturer is reaching new record levels but it is still relying mostly on the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV. However, the brand’s Ultium battery-powered EVs are expanding fast.

Ford not only lost the second position to GM but also slipped to fifth place in U.S. EV sales in the first quarter, as South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group (Hyundai, Kia, Genesis) and German automobile giant Volkswagen Group (VW, Audi, Porsche) surpassed it to grab the third and fourth spots, respectively.

In spite of those setbacks, Ford claimed that it remains of on track to produce at least 150,000 units for the Lightning pickup truck this year. The company’s global run rate is expected to reach 600,000 EVs by this year’s end. Its global annual production capacity is expected to reach 2 million EVs worldwide by 2026.