FORD Sales "Only" Down 13%!

[Perian]

Source: Ford Motor Company Link: http://media.ford.com/article_displa...ticle_id=25526

FORD'S FEBRUARY SALES OFF 13%; DAILY RENTAL SALES DOWN 30%

Ford's February sales totaled 211,150, down 13 percent compared with a year ago.

Lower sales to daily rental companies (down 30 percent) account for about one-half of the decline. Sales to retail customers were down 8 percent.

Ford's estimated retail market share in February is 13 percent -- maintaining a consistent level since June 2006.

Demand continues to grow for new mid-size sedans (Ford Fusion up 46 percent compared with a year ago, Mercury Milan up 22 percent and Lincoln MKZ up 21 percent) and new crossover vehicles (Ford Edge up 43 percent compared with January and Lincoln MKX up 38 percent).

The company's February sales totaled 211,150, compared with 244,021 a year ago. Lower sales to daily rental companies (down 16,000 units) accounted for about half of the decline. Sales to individual retail customers were down 8 percent compared with a year ago.

The company estimates retail sales for its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands were 13 percent of industry-wide retail sales in February. The company's share of the U.S. retail market has been consistent at approximately 13 percent since June 2006.

“Our objective is to deliver more of the products that people want and, in doing so, stabilize retail share," said Mark Fields, Ford’s President of The Americas. “We're encouraged by the results we have achieved over the past several months. O ur new products and our initiatives to strengthen our brands are starting to pay off."

Consumer demand continues to grow for Ford's new mid-size cars and crossover utilities (CUVs). In February, Ford Fusion sales were up 46 percent compared with a year ago, Mercury Milan sales were up 22 percent, and Lincoln MKZ sales were up 21 percent.

February marked the second month on sale for the company's new crossover utilities – the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX. Edge sales were 7,977 (up 43 percent compared with January) and Lincoln MKX sales were 2,310 (up 38 percent). The Edge has posted higher sales in its first two months than did Ford's popular Fusion when it was introduced in late 2005.

The Edge and Lincoln MKX are all-new products in the company's CUV lineup. Redesigned models of Ford's Escape and Mercury Mariner are arriving at dealer showrooms now, and the new Taurus X crossover will go on sale this summer.

Ford saw lower sales for its F-Series pickup truck in February (down 12 percent), which compares with a very strong performance for America's best-selling pickup last year. Although supply is limited, the all-new F-Series Super Duty pickup is off to a fast start, with a very positive "days to turn" level of 6 days in February.

U.S. Inventories

At the end of February, Ford, Lincoln and Mercury inventories were estimated at 603,000 units. This level is 175,000 units lower than a year ago.

North American Production

In the first quarter 2007, the company plans to produce 740,000 vehicles (200,000 cars and 540,000 trucks). This plan is unchanged from the previously announced plan.

In the second quarter 2007, the company plans to produce 770,000 vehicles (220,000 cars and 550,000 trucks). In the second quarter 2006, the company produced 897,000 vehicles (328,000 cars and 569,000 trucks). More than 60 percent of the year-to-year decline in second quarter reduction reflects discontinued products and the company's planned reduction in sales to daily rental companies.

[Perian]

Nice to see!

Go Ford!

Hello Edmunds - Where did you get your 23% figure?

Ford (GM & Chrysler) can't seem to get a break from any media outlet!

[Cabana Boy]

WOW, 8K sales of the Edge with a 46% increase.

Not bad.

I guess people don't really care that it is a few hundred pounds heavier than the smaller vehicles that some compare it to.

[1931Chevy]

Atleast the Fusion is at 13000 per month lets hope they continue going up, and Ford sales are down because sales of the Taurus are at 0 plus add the monterey and freestar, thats about 20k to 22k sales less per month

[BrickTamland]

Jaguar is really getting whipped. If they don't fix it soon, they should dump it.

[andy82471]

So let me get this straight; a 13% sales decline is actually good news? Is this what Ford has been reduced too ? It is like, sure we suck but we don't suck as bad as people think.

[igor]

Originally Posted by andy82471

So let me get this straight; a 13% sales decline is actually good news? Is this what Ford has been reduced too ? It is like, sure we suck but we don't suck as bad as people think.

the title is a reference to PREDICTIONS by Edmunds - they predicted 23% decline ..

no one here pretends this is good news

(besides maybe the Fusion/Milan/MKZ and the Edge/MKX which did pretty well actually)

Igor

[hunchman]

Originally Posted by Perian

Nice to see!

Go Ford!

Hello Edmunds - Where did you get your 23% figure?

Ford (GM & Chrysler) can't seem to get a break from any media outlet!

is edmund's figure that important or is the fact that a percentage decrease more important. It's nice to see ford's numbers go down? they are always going down................last month .....this month ......the next month.....Go Ford!............keep up the decreases

[armycam68]

So when do the March Madness Rebates begin for Ford and GM????????????

[igor]

Originally Posted by armycam68

So when do the March Madness Rebates begin for Ford and GM????????????

Ford/Lincoln/Mercury inventory is at 603k, FLM sold 186k units in February in 23 sales days (8.09k units a sales day)

That means FLM has 74 day inventory (603k/8.09k) - very good value compared to the industry standard of 60 days, and definitely a good value for ANY domestic manufacturer ..

I do not predict any march maddness sale from Ford .. if you notice, they hardly had anything for President's day ... unlike GM

I predict the GM inventory level will be quite a bit higher than that (not to mention DCX with their "sales bank" of undeclared inventory).

Igor

[Russell]

Well how about Porch sales down 27%

[paul8488]

Originally Posted by 1931Chevy

Atleast the Fusion is at 13000 per month lets hope they continue going up, and Ford sales are down because sales of the Taurus are at 0 plus add the monterey and freestar, thats about 20k to 22k sales less per month

Problem there is Taurus was nearly 100% fleet, even early last year, so the drop there figures into the fleet end of things, not the retail end. Still, strong performance from the Fusion and its siblings and the Edge and its sister.

[espo19047]

Originally Posted by andy82471

So let me get this straight; a 13% sales decline is actually good news? Is this what Ford has been reduced too ? It is like, sure we suck but we don't suck as bad as people think.

I like to look at the cup as half full. Most find the negative spin. I prefer the positive spin.
Ford will prove the doom sayers wrong just like GM.

[red_xtreme95]

Originally Posted by Perian

Nice to see!

Go Ford!

Hello Edmunds - Where did you get your 23% figure?

Ford (GM & Chrysler) can't seem to get a break from any media outlet!

Edmunds are full of crap...you cant belive anything after the made the tundra truck of the year...thats a bunch of BS

[igor]

Originally Posted by paul8488

Problem there is Taurus was nearly 100% fleet, even early last year, so the drop there figures into the fleet end of things, not the retail end. Still, strong performance from the Fusion and its siblings and the Edge and its sister.

not (completely) true ... Ford abandoned the Taurus rental fleet volume. Someof this is govt/comm fleet volume - the rest is retail ... we have to keep in mind that Fusion had a brand new marketing campaign out since January - one that directly focused on the features and comparison with Camry and Accord .. per inofficial (lacking numbers) reports, the campaign was quite successful and Ford saw big increase in Fusion-seeking showroom traffic.

Igor