Ford’s February Sales Fell

From USA Today:

Ford Motor said it sold 183,947 new cars and trucks in February, down 6.1% from a year ago.

Cars and SUVs were down, but pickup trucks were about flat. The only Ford-brand car that posted a gain was the Mustang, up 6.4%.

Among Ford SUVs, older-design Edge, Flex and Expedition all were up, while Escape and Explorer, the newer models among the SUV lineup, both were off.

F-series, the company’s golden goose and America’s best-selling vehicles of any kind for more than three decades, was up a modest 2.6%. Still, Ford said, it was the line’s best February in eight years.

But the Transit Connect, which had been the talk of tradesmen and small business owners because of its relatively low price, good mileage and cavernous cargo space, tumbled 38%.

Not as bad as it looks, Ford said. “Sales surged in the final week, providing us momentum after a slow start to the month,” said John Felice, Ford vice president in charge of U.S. marketing, sales and service. “Ford Fusion continued its strong retail sales performance in the West, outpacing the mid-size sedan segment. F-Series and Lincoln also continued to perform well.”

The Lincoln brand’s MKZ, an entry-luxury sedan based on the Ford Fusion and one of the new models that Ford hopes will revive Lincoln, was up a hefty 222.1%. The MKX midsize SUV was up 8.4% and overall, the Lincoln brand was up 36.4% for its fifth straight consecutive month of sales gains.

Lincoln has foundered, unable to convince buyers to take it seriously as a luxury alternative to Cadillac, Infiniti or Lexus, but in the past five months, Lincoln sold 34,476 vehicles, representing a 26% increase over the same period one year ago.

Ford Motor fleet sales were off 10% in February, as winter weather again delayed a portion of fleet orders. The volumes are anticipated to be made up in March.

Posted by on March 3rd, 2014 at 1:44 pm


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