Ford Sales Decline in July, But SUVs Maintain Record Pace
Ford Motor Company posted sales totaling 200,212 vehicles in July, a year-over-year volume loss of 7.5%. Ford brand sales were down 7.7% at 191,337 vehicles delivered, and Lincoln Motor Company sales fell 2.5% at 8,875 vehicles delivered. Retail sales were down 1% at 159,492 vehicles delivered, and fleet sales fell 26.4% at 40,720 vehicles.
As one could reasonably expect, the story in July for Ford was one of diminishing car sales and an upturn in SUV sales. Cars fell 19.4% with deliveries totaling 48,259 vehicles, while SUV sales increased 2.2% at 71,067 vehicles. Truck sales also saw decreases in July, falling 7.1% at 80,886 vehicles delivered.
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“Customers across the country drove retail gains of Ford brand SUVs in July,” said Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president, US Marketing, Sales, and Service. “SUV retail sales were up 9.1% nationally with growth in every region of the country. High-series SUVs were in strong demand with customers, representing nearly 30% of retail sales.”
Ford brand SUV sales were up 2.9% at 65,558 units thanks primarily to a 5.5% increase for Escape (27,716 vehicles), 12.9% increase for Explorer (18,763 vehicles), and 6.1% increase for Edge (11,156 vehicles). Ford anticipates that SUV sales will only continue to rise as it introduces the EcoSport and all-new Expedition in the second half. Through seven months, Ford-branded SUVs are up 2.9% at 472,022 vehicles delivered.
The Ford Focus saw an 18.1% sales increase with sales totaling 16,505 vehicles, and deliveries of the Ford GT totaled 8 in July, but Ford-branded cars otherwise sagged across the board with a 20.6% year-over-year decline. To date, Ford-branded car sales are down 21.7%, falling off nearly 100,000 units year-over-year.
F-Series sales were up 5.8% in July with 69,467 trucks delivered, but all other Ford Truck products were down double digits. Ford also notes that strong sales for the F-150 Raptor and high-series iterations of the Super Duty helped to drive a $45,000 ATP for F-Series, up $2,500 year-over-year. July’s Ford Truck sales total was 80,886 units, and total 627,535 units through seven months (up 1.4%).
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Through July, Ford’s total sales are down 4.3% at 1,501,314 vehicles delivered. Ford brand sales are down 4.7% at 1,436,102 vehicles delivered.
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