Ford Motor Company’s August sales totaled 175,220 vehicles, an increase of 11% compared to a year ago, largely because of an increase of 16% by Ford brand sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles to 117,000 units. In total, Ford Motor car sales increased to 59,000 units, +3.5% compared to a year ago; SUVs at 50,000 units increased 35%; and pickup trucks at 67,000 units increased 5%. It was Ford’s worst month since last February, but still better than an average auto industry increase of 7.5%.
Year-to-date, Ford Motor Company car sales totaled 519,000, +10% year over year, while the industry increased 10.5%. Sport utility vehicle (SUV) and truck sales totaled more than 900,000 units, or 65% of Ford Motor sales.
Ford brand car sales were up10% at 53,000 cars. Fiesta, Fusion and Mustang posted higher sales than a year ago. Fiesta sales totaled 5,833, up 76%, and Fusion sales were 17,925, up 5%. In the first eight months of 2011, the mid-size Fusion remained Ford’s top-selling car by far, with sales totaling 168,929, up 16% versus a year ago. Mustang sales were up 3% to 5,700 units in contrast to Chevrolet Camaro sales of almost 7,000 pony cars in August. Focus sales, still constrained by low inventory, totaled 14,093, down 9%. Fiesta and Focus remain the fastest-turning vehicles in the Ford showroom. Year-to-date, Ford brand car sales totaled 484,072, up 22%.
Ford Brand SUVs were up 49%, with the aging Mazda-derived Escape still Ford’s best seller posting sales of 20,607 vehicles, up 39% versus a year ago. Year-to-date, Escape sales totaled 167,625, up 30%. Explorer sales at 9,901 were up 300% versus a year ago, and Edge sales totaled 9,414, up 5%.
Ford brand truck sales were higher than a year ago in August and year-to-date. August truck sales totaled 67,282, up 5%. Year-to-date, Ford truck sales totaled 509,544, up 8%.
F-Series, America’s best-selling truck for 34 years in a row, posted August sales of 48,795, up 2% versus a year ago. Sales of the F-150 with new V6 engines continued to outsell V8s in August, as V6 engines accounted for 57% of F-150 retail sales – the highest V6 rate for any month this year. The 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine accounted for 41% of F-150 retail sales, and the 3.7-liter V6 accounted for 16%. Year-to-date, F-Series remains a powerhouse with sales at 361,978, up 7%.
Transit Connect sales totaled 2,734, a record for August and up 35% versus a year ago.
Lincoln posted a 25% sales increase in August to 2,300 units. With such a small base, beware of percentage increase claims, following July’s 40% sales increase. In the first eight months of 2011, Lincoln sales totaled 57,823, up 4% versus the same period a year ago. For comparison, Cadillac sold 13,000 luxury cars in August; y-t-d 100,000. BMW sold 21,000 in August; y-t-d 139,000.
The MKZ sedan is Lincoln’s top seller with August sales of 2,337, up 50%. Sales for the MKX crossover totaled 1,971, up 15%, and sales for the MKS sedan were up 35%.
In the fourth quarter, Ford plans to produce 645,000 vehicles, up 9% versus a year ago.
“Given this fourth quarter guidance our full year production would be about 10% over full-year 2010. And our sales gain for the year to date period is eleven%, so you can see that our production increase in 2011 is basically matching consumer demand,” said Ford Sales Analyst, George Pipas.
