Life seems pretty good for Ford right now, at least as far as its newest vehicles are concerned. The microchip shortage is hitting hard, as evidenced by year-over-year July retail sales dropping 37.7 percent. However, things aren't as gloomy as the percentage suggests. It seems the newest Blue Oval vehicles are doing exactly what Ford needs them to do: grab market share from the competition.

Amid that big July sales decline are two very interesting points Ford is keen to mention. The first involves the Bronco, which is still the talk of the town in the automotive realm. If anything, hype has increased since it went on sale earlier in the summer and that's reflected in Bronco sales stats. According to Ford, over 70 percent of Bronco orders are from customers who don't already have a Ford vehicle in their driveway. Only 3,277 sales were completed in July, but if that percentage holds over the 100,000 or so orders that converted from reservations, Bronco is poised to take a big slice of the off-roading pie.

Gallery: 2021 Ford Bronco: First Drive

Bronco isn't the only vehicle in Ford's lineup attracting new attention. Earlier this year we learned that Bronco Sport buyers outside of Ford were coming from Jeep more than any other brand. In the electric world, Ford says reservations for the F-150 Lightning passed 120,000 units, and nearly 80 percent of those reservation holders come from competing brands. Granted, reservations aren't sales and there's no guarantee that every reservation holder will follow through. Still, based on the Bronco's conversion success, there's reason for Ford to be quite optimistic about the future.

Now the company just needs to get there. For that matter, all automakers are currently looking to a better future where a COVID resurgence and critical microchip shortages don't curtail vehicle sales. However, Ford seems to be suffering a bit more than most, especially in the pickup truck realm. While the F-Series still holds a year-to-date sale lead over Ram and Silverado, both pickups actually outsold Ford during the second quarter of 2021.

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