Ford reports big jump in July sales, including for trucks and electric vehicles

DETROIT – Ford Motor’s U.S. vehicle sales last month showed notable improvements in volumes and truck availability, following a fire at a supplier’s plant in Japan that hurt its year-ago sales.

The Detroit automaker said Wednesday its new vehicle sales rose 36.6% in July from a year ago, compared to industry sales that were estimated to have declined by 10.5%. Ford’s July sales of 163,942 vehicles were up 7.7% from June.

A year ago, Ford’s vehicle production and sales were down more than other automakers due to a fire at one of its chip suppliers in Japan that forced production cuts during the first half of 2021.

Ford’s stock was up by as much as 6.5% during intraday trading Wednesday before closing at $15.69 a share, up 3.5%. Despite having its best performance last month since the Great Recession, the stock remains…