What's Ford's Number One Selling Vehicle In 2025 (So Far)?

Many automakers have had a rough start to 2025, with uncertainty around tariffs and weakening demand for EVs catching some automakers off-guard. Ford hasn't escaped the turmoil, and sent a note to its dealers in May saying that it was going to increase the prices of a trio of Mexico-built models, namely the Maverick, Bronco Sport, and Mustang Mach-E. That's bad news for buyers and dealers, as all three models have seen increased sales in early 2025 compared to 2024. Still, all three models fell a long way short of the sales figures of Ford's most popular vehicle, its F-Series pickup.

According to Ford's latest sales report, the brand has sold 342,971 F-Series pickup trucks from January through May 2025, almost a 20% increase on sales figures over the same period in 2024. However, the report doesn't separate figures for the models within the F-Series, aside from the F-150 Lightning, which has sold 10,829 units this year. That's significantly down on the 13,093 it had sold by the same time last year.

The F-Series is Ford's most popular range of vehicles by a significant margin, and is the only one of its products to have sold over 100,000 examples so far this year. Its second most popular model is the Explorer, which has sold 88,807 examples between January and May. The Maverick, of which Ford has sold 73,706 examples, is in third. A total of 67,655 Ford Escapes have also found homes so far in 2025, while the Transit rounds out the top five bestsellers list, with 62,139 examples sold.

It shouldn't be much of a surprise to see the Explorer in second place in the sales charts, as the long-running family SUV retains its winning mix of comfort and practicality in its latest iteration. Drivers who want to add a little additional performance into the mix can also plump for the 2025 Ford Explorer ST, which we found to be a highly capable companion and enjoyable to drive to boot.

While there are a range of popular models in Ford's current lineup, not all of its 2025 range is selling quite so well. One of the worst-performing models so far this year is the Mustang, which has only sold 19,309 units from January through May — an 18% drop compared to the same period last year. The aforementioned F-150 Lightning has also seen one of the biggest sales slumps, with sales dropping 17.3% compared to 2024. The E-Transit commercial van has fared even worse, with demand declining almost 25% year-on-year.

Both the F-150 Lightning and E-Transit might have been affected by the market-wide drop in EV sales, with overall U.S. sales dropping notably in April after more than a year of growth. However, the Mustang might be a surprising name to see on the worst performers list for some fans of the brand. It ticks all the traditional boxes for an enthusiast car — it's available with a V8 engine, and is one of two Fords still available with a manual transmission — but that hasn't translated into actual sales for Ford. More worryingly for Mustang fans, it's part of a longer-term trend, with historical sales data showing demand for the Mustang peaking in 2015, when Ford sold 122,349 examples of the car, and dropping almost every year since then.