Ford sales slump in July
Following on the heels of DaimlerChyrsler's report of a catastrophic July in the U.S. market, Ford Motor reported that its sales were equally bad, falling an identical 34 percent compared to the record-breaking July of 2005.The difference, of course, is that the Chrysler Group results came despite a return of its aggressive Employee Pricing incentive program, while Ford offered less radical incentives compared to last year's Family Plan pricing.
On a brand-by-brand basis, the flagship Ford brand posted the worst result, losing 35.7 percent, while Volvo posted the best news, a drop of only 10.2 percent.
On a vehicle basis, Ranger and F-Series truck sales were down 50.6 percent and 45.6 percent, respectively, while SUV sales were even worse, with the Expedition showing a 57.4 percent drop, and the Explorer and Escape faring little better, at -50 percent and -33.3 percent, respectively.
On the bright side, Ford's July sales were 6 percent better than June's, with its new mid-sized Fusion, Milan and Zephyr sedans up 18 percent over the previous month.
[Source: Ford]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dinosaurus 3:41PM (8/01/2006)
Has anyone else noticed how freaking hot it is outside. Who in their right mind would go car shopping in this heat?
Reply
s 4:02PM (8/01/2006)
Ford is about to release the 2007 Expedition and EL during a time sales are half of previous bad sales.
Huge rebates must be on tap
Reply
Chuck 4:05PM (8/01/2006)
Funny, but yeah probably worth a few percentage points. I know I just want to head from the office straight home everyday
Reply
Brian 4:28PM (8/01/2006)
In case you missed it, Toyota (Toyota, Lexus, Scion) passed Ford (Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, Aston Martin) by about a thousand units.
Reply
BOB 4:33PM (8/01/2006)
EVERYONE THANK THEIR PRESIDENT FOR HIS FRIEND'S OIL WAR AND HIS LACK OF LEADERSHIP ON CONSERVATION.
JAPANESE AND CHINESE AUTO FIRMS WOULD BE MAKING HUGE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IF THEY COULD, SINCE THEY WERE SMART ENOUGH TO BE AT ADVANTAGE IN THE OIL SITUATION.
THERE USED TO BE LEADERS IN WASHINGTON: THEY WOULD HAVE TOLD THE DOMESTIC MAKERS AND THE UAW TO SOLVE THIS -- MANY YEARS AGO.
Reply
TJ Hooker 4:44PM (8/01/2006)
Most likely the Fusion, Milan, and Zephyr's sales went up slightly was because of fleet sales to rental companies. BOLD MOVES, whatever!
Reply
Fred D. 4:46PM (8/01/2006)
"while Ford offered less radical incentives compared to last year's Family Plan pricing"
Not true. Average incentive levels for July 2006 are within $100 of the average for July 2005.
Reply
Fred D. 4:49PM (8/01/2006)
"Has anyone else noticed how freaking hot it is outside. Who in their right mind would go car shopping in this heat?"
Honda and Toyota buyers.
Reply
Pinkerton 5:09PM (8/01/2006)
Anybody else read the September issue of Motor Trend? The inside news section says that Ford is planning to...
1. create a new Boss Mustang 5.0
2. integrate the Euro Focus into the US market
3. release a 2-door Fusion (!)
4. a new xB-like subcompact
5. more emphasis on Explorer's off-road capabilites
Most of these sound like good ideas.
Reply
Alexander Drummond 6:16PM (8/01/2006)
The 2-door fusion is the new focus. I have a source at Valeo, and Autoblog refused to post it. >.
Reply
ken 9:58PM (8/01/2006)
Poor BOB (#5), no one has told him about the CAPS LOCK button on his non-union made computer keyboard. Yeah, it's all Bush's fault that Ford/GM/DCX sales are down. Damn oil cronies.
Bob, remember when the Chinese gave HUGE contributions to the Clinton Administration after Algore gave them a few nuke secrets? Bet your union bosses left that out when they told you who to vote for huh?
Reply
iQuack 12:51AM (8/02/2006)
BOB #5 needs to take AND PASS a class in economics 101.
Could it be that unionized, Democrat-leaning teachers have turned BOB into an ignoramus?
Looks that way.
Reply
Howard Kerr 7:05AM (8/02/2006)
Re Pinkerton,
aside from the fact that MT (notice the initials...EMPTY?), "says" Ford is about to release a few products, the facts are that none of the products you list will be available anytime soon.
Yes, Ford is mentioning the off-road abilities of the Explorer in commercials, and in my area is running ads for the Explorer, Escape, and Expedition, so you get the idea they are all good off-road vehicles. But apparently you missed the part of this story that says sales of ALL trucks at Ford are WAY DOWN. If cars are your only bright spot, and you have only a few models that appeal to buyers....you are in trouble NOW. Having a few models that MAY be produced in the future, won't help Ford to turn a profit this quarter/year.
Reply
Pinkerton 10:56AM (8/02/2006)
Howard, thanks for your snide response, and yes, I did read the whole article. All I did was post the main points. I could have gone into a rant about how Ford does not offer a single car in the US market that I want, but I've done that before on here.
On Ford's part, sure, these moves may be a case of too little too late.
Reply