[igor]

RETAIL SALES FOR FORD’S NEW FOCUS UP 88 PERCENT, PACING STRONG CAR AND CROSSOVER RESULTS​

• Ford's new Focus posted an 88 percent increase in retail sales compared with a year ago; highest April sales for Focus since 2000.
• Retail sales for mid-size sedans also were higher; Ford Fusion up 31 percent, Mercury Milan up 19 percent, and Lincoln MKZ up 20 percent; Fusion and Milan set April sales records.
• Total car retail sales up 21 percent.
• Crossover retail sales up 11 percent led by Ford Edge (up 24 percent) and Ford Escape (up 13 percent).
• Rising gas prices accelerate the industry-wide shift from trucks and SUVs to cars and crossovers.
• Ford, Lincoln and Mercury sales totaled 189,247, down 12 percent; retail sales were down 7 percent and daily rental sales were down 32 percent.
• Total Ford Motor Company sales (including Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo) totaled 200,727, down 12 percent.

MORE HERE: http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=28166

Igor
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[BPGTim]

There is the market in Black and White.

 

[K-1]

And to think this is all happening well ahead of CAFE. Imagine if we had, say, a gas tax that kept prices near $4/gal a decade ago...

 

[Bravada]

Ford's new Focus posted an 88 percent increase in retail sales compared with a year ago; highest April sales for Focus since 2000.

It is good to see Ford doing so much for the visually-impaired, but on the other hand, are you happy with so many blind drivers on the road?

ANYHOO,

The zombie Mercury STILL outsold Lincoln! Way to go, Alan, yes please kill Mercury obviously... OTOH, out of the (now former) PAG brands, one posted a 25.4% increase in April sales (as the ONLY Ford brand reported), while another - a 12,1% decline. Guess which is the one Ford sold.


I would have to see the complete market figures for April, but it seems the American market is going "European" at full throttle - in that it is rapidly moving to "small" cars from "large" trucks (btw, the ancient Ranger posted an INCREASE in sales, this is probably the result of Ford's bold announcement they will never ever modernize anything about the truck for NA - think how would the sales have been if they transplanted the Thai Ranger aka Matsuda BT-50).

Also, with compact and midsize sales hovering, think how much sales could Ford cash if they imported any Fiesta, Ka, Ecosport, Euro Fusion, anything! But noooo, let's sell a brand, kill a brand, switch nameplate. Importing a car for a growing market segment - so crude...

 

[johnny smallblock]

So car sales are down 1%, truck sales are down 18% and overall sales are down 12%. That means FoMoCo sells way too many trucks and their numbers are suffering big time for it. I know, old news.

But what really impresses is that they still made money. A.M. & Co. deserve a lot of credit for that. I, for one, thought they were in a lot more trouble then GM. Seems I was wrong.

 

[tgagneguam]

And to think this is all happening well ahead of CAFE. Imagine if we had, say, a gas tax that kept prices near $4/gal a decade ago...

Yes, this is ahead of CAFE, and it proves that the legislation is unnecessary. Truly free markets-which we don't have in the US-would have caused this shift eventually; there's only so much oil to go around. Sometimes, often times, it takes time to build momentum. I'm pretty happy with the pace at which it occurred (i.e., we don't need the government taking more money away from us under the guise of helping the environment).

 

[BrickTamland]

Memo to Ford: Freakin advertise the Taurus and Taurus X! The only - only - ads I have heard were a few radio and tv commerials for the Taurus a year ago. They were the really sappy ones with Mike Rowe narrating with the little girl saying to her mom, "Will you love me when I'm 12?" :barf: The corniness makes me ill. And Ford says they are finished with the days of launch and abandon...