Ford December sales -9%, year-end -11.9%, Explorer -23.1%

[starlightmica]

http://media.ford.com/article_displa...ticle_id=27379

• Ford, Mercury and Lincoln crossover utility vehicles paced the industry’s fastest-growing segment with a gain of 62 percent in 2007; Ford Edge challenged entrenched foreign models for supremacy among mid-size crossovers.
• Ford’s Farley: “Ford Edge is a great example of our plan to build products people really want to buy.”
• Lincoln posts 9 percent increase in 2007, owing to new MKX crossover and higher sales for MKZ sedan.
• New Ford Focus up 3 percent in December (9 percent at retail).
• Ford’s F-Series truck was America’s best-selling truck in 2007 – the 31st year in a row.
• Ford’s 2007 sales totaled 2.57 million, down 12 percent compared with 2006; more than two-thirds of the decline reflected discontinued models.
• Ford’s December sales totaled 212,094, down 9 percent.

DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 3, 2008 – Led by two new and three redesigned models, Ford, Lincoln and Mercury crossover utility vehicles paced the industry’s fastest-growing segment with a gain of 62 percent in 2007, more than triple the industry-wide growth of 17 percent. In its first full year, Ford Edge sales were 130,125, exceeding Ford’s original forecast by 30 percent. In December, Edge capped off the year with its best-ever retail sales month.


“Ford Edge is a great example of our plan to build products people really want to buy,” said Jim Farley, Ford’s group vice president, Marketing and Communications. “Demand is growing at a fast pace beyond the nation’s heartland, our traditional region of strength.”


Ford expects continued growth in crossovers in 2008 with the mid-year introduction of the Ford Flex.


Lincoln achieved full-year sales of 131,487, a 9 percent increase versus 2006. The Lincoln MKX crossover was the largest contributor to Lincoln’s growth, but the MKZ sedan and Lincoln Navigator also helped spur Lincoln’s momentum, which began in late 2006. The next new Lincoln was revealed at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November – the MKS sedan that will debut this summer.


Sales for the new Ford Focus were up 3 percent in December (9 percent at retail). Focus sales were up 18 percent in November, the first full month for the new model.


Ford’s F-Series truck was America’s best-selling truck in 2007 – the 31st year in a row – with full year sales of 690,589. F-Series was also the best-selling vehicle, car or truck, for 26 years in a row.


Ford’s full-year 2007 sales totaled 2.57 million, down 12 percent compared with a year ago. Retail sales were down 10 percent and fleet sales were down 18 percent (including a 32 percent reduction in daily rental sales). More than two thirds of Ford’s sales decline reflected discontinued products.


Ford’s December sales totaled 212,094, down 9 percent compared with a year ago. Retail sales were down 13 percent and fleet sales were down 1 percent.

[kneedragger]

The F-Series is down 22% on the month and 13% on the year... ouch. The new F-Series can't come soon enough.

[ChevyRacing48]

Originally Posted by kneedragger

The F-Series is down 22% on the month and 13% on the year... ouch. The new F-Series can't come soon enough.

I believe the high gas prices, and the further speculation of yet even higher gas prices is the main contributing factor to the month over month decline of the F-series. Not to mention so many people jumping aboard the green movement.

It's not just the F-series, it's the full size truck market as a whole.

While I agree the new F-150 will help with sales, I don't think it will completely stop the declining sales trend. IMHO, I don't think we will ever see full size sales numbers like we have the past 5 or so years again, well not for the near future anyways.

[likearock00]

Originally Posted by kneedragger

The F-Series is down 22% on the month and 13% on the year... ouch. The new F-Series can't come soon enough.

It's still #1 despite brand new design from GM. I think the F-150 is doing just fine and will continue to do so with the next-gen. The truck market is feeling the crunch overall, but the F-150 is still the first choice for the smaller number of buyers.

This is good news for Ford.....I was worried about them for awhile. They're still struggling but at least the new product they have coming out is getting some sales (except for the Taurus it seems).

[BrickTamland]

Originally Posted by likearock00

This is good news for Ford.....I was worried about them for awhile. They're still struggling but at least the new product they have coming out is getting some sales (except for the Taurus it seems).

That is a shame about the Taurus. A ford executive said the Five Hundred was the best car nobody heard of, or something similar. The Taurus is better still, but people still don't know about it. They need to advertise it more. Most of the commercials I saw (or rather heard) were on the radio. They were the overly sentimental ones Mike Rowe narrated. Ugh.

[TimR]

Originally Posted by likearock00

It's still #1 despite brand new design from GM. I think the F-150 is doing just fine and will continue to do so with the next-gen. The truck market is feeling the crunch overall, but the F-150 is still the first choice for the smaller number of buyers.

Silverado for 2007 618,257 and GMC sierra 210,736 for a total of 828,993 light trucks sold. So if you go by nameplate only Ford wins, if you go by company products GM wins. Doesn't matter though, just saw on Business News that Toyotas Tundra is "Eating Fords lunch" as the Tundra sales are up 7%. (of course they don't mention actual numbers because that would make Ford and GM look good).

I think this arguement happens every year...

[fenderbender]

The F-150 still won, but only by a very small margin in comparison with the Silverado.

[gardnet1]

Originally Posted by kneedragger

The F-Series is down 22% on the month and 13% on the year... ouch. The new F-Series can't come soon enough.

Even that won't help if the housing market doesn't rebound. That is the primary driver for reduced sales.

[1931Chevy]

IMO Farley needs to get the marketing department back online with fresh ideas, right now the only thing they are talking the heck out of it is sync, I know its good but you need to talk about the vehicle too dammit, the Fusion and Focus are atleast selling good

[Chevy Ryan]

I think the news for the F-150 is worse than people think. Don't forget, the Super Duty makes up 40% of F-Series sales, and the new 2008 model was on sale for virtually all of calendar year 2007. In spite of that, F-Series sales still fell 13%. If you look only at the F-150 for 2007, their sales were probably down over 20%.

[OrlandoGuy80]

At Mercury, it's good news to see both the Milan and Mariner are up for the year.

Lincoln - is it just me or was it a horrendous month for the Town Car? 194 units? Did inventory run out or something (ha)?

Interesting that the Taurus X was up over the Freestyle for the same period last year ...

It's hard to tell how well the C30 is doing. The numbers aren't special on their own, but surely this is intended to be a niche vehicle, so perhaps it is doing okay ... ? What were internal sales targets?

[t-rex]

Amazing how the long-in-the-tooth Escape/Mariner increased sales, even outselling the Edge.

I think cute-utes and crossovers will be the next "big thing" in the market.

[2b2]

Originally Posted by OrlandoGuy80

...Lincoln - is it just me or was it a horrendous month for the Town Car? 194 units? Did inventory run out or something (ha)?...

yup. They stopped building them at Wixom some time ago to move the production to St.Thomas in Canada alongside the GM & CV
...think they were supposed to just start building them again in the last few days.
(& I'll be real interested to see if the move includes some changes...)