Ford Mustang Mach-E Electric Vehicle Defies the Trend, Posts Solid October Deliveries and We Know Why

If you follow Torque News closely, you will find that I am not shy about spitting truth bombs about EVs. I’m that guy who points out that about 95% of new vehicle shoppers will choose not to buy an EV in Q4 of this year. However, don't confuse truth with preference. I’d love to see American automakers and those foreign brands that opt to insource production succeed wildly in whatever they opt to make. One brand that is currently doing exactly that is Ford.

In October, the month following the end of the free money giveaway for anyone buying an EV, the expectation was that all EVs, perhaps excepting Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y, would drive off a cliff to their doom. It proved mostly true. Cox Automotive has reported a staggering 49% decline in EV deliveries in October. Here’s what Cox reported verbatim:

Electric vehicle sales fell sharply in October, as expected, dropping to 74,835, a decline of 48.9% month over month, according to initial estimates from Cox Automotive. EV sales in October were lower year over year by 30.3%.

Honestly, that’s about as good as anyone could have expected following the removal of $7,500 in “free” money from the government in the form of a tax credit or lease cap cost reduction. Before you jump to the comments section to say, “Yeah, but all cars were lower in October,” be forewarned, we have the data, and the entire small decline in overall new vehicle run rate looks like it is precisely attributable to the loss of a boatload of EV deliveries.

One model that has sidestepped this trend with dignity and grace is the Ford Mustang Mach-E. This battery-electric hatchback, crossover, car, whatever you wish to name it, sells in part because it is a great car to drive and own. Don’t take my word for it (though I’ve spent more time in the car than most reviewers). Consumer Reports says that the Mustang Mach-E earns a ⅘ Owner satisfaction rating. Owners give it a 95/100 satisfaction rating with regard to the Driving Experience and a 91/100 for Styling. Those numbers are evidence number one that the car earns its sales. They are not all “free EV” giveaways.

The second clue to the Mustang Mach-E’s enduring delivery success is that it has been a high performer in terms of EV deliveries for many years now. It was the third or fourth EV overall in America to sustain a 3,000-unit per month delivery rate. Two of the four that also do that are the Model Y and Model 3. Frankly, aside from the Hyundai Ioniq 5, the Mustang Mach-E has few peers in the industry, aside from the incredibly successful Model Y from Tesla. There are EVs that get great reviews from the EV-advocacy writers, but the cars just-don’t-sell. Mach-E always did, and continues to do so. One year ago, I was among the first to report that the Mustang Mach-E's deliveries would pass the gas-powered Mustang's. 

The third piece of evidence that I had about the Mach-E doing well was from the General Manager of a Ford dealership. Let's leave his name out since it was a casual conversation. He told me:

Mustang Mach-E is continuing to do very well. Ford’s strong lease incentives help, but the Mach-E is a car that sells itself, regardless of the particular programs that are in effect.

Ford’s Mustang Mach-E Delivery Numbers
So how did the numbers pan out exactly? Here you go:
 - 2,906 units delivered in October. 
- 407 fewer Mustang Mach-Es than Ford delivered in October of last year, 2024
- 174 more Mustang Mach-Es than Ford delivered in October of 2023
- 149 fewer Mustang Mach-Es than Ford delivered in October 2022
- 58 more Mustang Mach-Es than Ford delivered in 2021

What does this mean exactly?  Well, from our standpoint, it shows that Ford has had five consecutive years of darn close to the exact same number of Mustang Mach-E deliveries. That is indicative of a company selling all the Mach-Es it wishes to build and put into its dealer network pipeline. Otherwise, if the market forces and customer preferences were shifting, we’d see a lot more delivery volatility.

Ford’s Mach-E dealers are also stocked with cars. We have proof by single example, which is what every math nut always loves to see (kidding). We drove to our favorite and closest Ford dealer. Just past their six Blue Oval DC chargers and six Level 2 chargers for the general public’s use was parked an entire row of new Ford Mustang Mach-E cars in virtually every color but red, awaiting a forever home. Or, perhaps more accurately, a “three-year lease home.”

Smart Trim Offerings and A Great Performance for the Dollar
So what does the Mach-E really offer besides great looks and a driving experience that owners find near perfect? For one, you can get a Mustang Mach-E Rally trim with Michelin CrossClimate2 tires. How many other EVs for sale in America come with tires rated for severe snow duty? Zero, by my count. If you don’t have a tire fetish and are not from New England (I have one and I am from there), you may not realize how important good 4-season tires are. There are three vehicles in my family fleet right now, and every one of them is wearing a tire with the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol. The fact that Ford will sell you a car with that type of tire directly from the factory is fantastic.

The second reason the Mustang Mach-E is hard to pass up is that it is one of Ford’s best performance bangs for your buck. Which other Ford model has 700 lb-ft of torque, all-wheel drive, and costs under $60K? Zero. Zip, nada is the correct answer. On a wet day, the Mach-E Rally will beat any gas-powered Mustang in a stoplight sprint. Not that we condone that sort of behavior.

This story may age terribly, but with five consecutive years of Ford Mustang Mach-E deliveries being all within 10% of one another, it sure looks like the Mustang Mach-E is proving to be a very reliable seller for Ford. We look forward to reporting this same story in 12 months.

John Goreham is the Vice President of the New England Motor Press Association and an expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his fourteen years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on LinkedIn and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. John employs grammar and punctuation software when proofreading, and he sometimes uses image generation tools. 

Images by John Goreham