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March 2016 Sales: Ford Posts Best March U.S. Sales in 10 Years

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#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Ford Posts Best March U.S. Sales in 10 Years, Best First-Quarter Results since 2006

 Ford Motor Company U.S. sales of 254,711 vehicles for March up 8 percent versus last year; first quarter sales total 645,626 vehicles – up 9 percent

 Ford brand SUVs reach best first quarter sales start in company history, best March sales since 2001 – March Edge sales up 49 percent, Escape grows 8 percent and Explorer gains 4 percent

 Ford F-Series sales up 9 percent, for best March and first quarter start in a decade; commercial vans produce best March sales in 38 years, led by record Transit sales

 Lincoln sales grew 11 percent, thanks to the brand’s best March performance for sport utility vehicles since 2001; Lincoln brand SUVs up 27 percent in first quarter

DEARBORN, Mich., April 1, 2016 – Ford Motor Company sold 254,711 vehicles in the U.S. in March – an 8 percent gain versus a year ago – while first quarter sales of 645,626 vehicles were up 9 percent. This represents the company’s best sales performance for March and first quarter since 2006.

(more at link)

Sales Chart:

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#2 ·
9689 sales for Lincoln!!! Excellent!

Also this:
Lincoln sales were up 11 percent in March, while average transaction prices for the brand were up more than $2,100 – almost four times the rate of growth of the overall luxury segment.
Much of the growth came from 6,428 Lincoln SUV sales – a 28 percent gain. First-quarter Lincoln SUV sales increased 27 percent, marking Lincoln SUVs best sales performance for March and the first quarter since 2001
 
#13 ·
There has been a lot of back-and-forth, un-clarity about the MKX & MKC, (stealing each others sales).

Well it is now running un-interrupted, looks pretty good; YTD up over 3,100 units.
 
#9 ·
Cadillac should be ready to finally increase sales, with the CT6 being launched soon. Right?!? I mean, we have been hearing for years how the Alpha chassis is perfection reincarnate, with God's own hands gracing it's execution. And it has done wonders for Camaro sales.......errrr, well.....anyway, good times.
 
#14 ·
Rental fleet is up 5% due to the front loading. The rest of the fleet increase is desirable, and something Ford has been building towards with new vans, etc. And at the end of the day, they are all sales. Being slightly down in relative sales profit margins for that 5% extra rental fleet, is not exactly a negative.
 
#15 ·
The only dark cloud is the continued drop in Focus/Fiesta sales. I know there are numerous potential causes, with hot CUV sales at the top of the list, but they have to roll out the new versions ASAP. If the drop continues, Focus (a great small car) will be relegated to irrelevance. It galls me to see the Cruse outselling it and don't want it to go the way of the Dart.:banghead:
 
#17 ·
The biggest complaint for the Fiesta I think we heard was the lack of fold flat rear seats which I hope they will address in the next model. For the Focus its the rear seat room which I think will be addressed since the mules we saw look to be longer.
 
#22 ·
Since the MKC and MKX are both "5-Passenger" just look at combined sales, trust me.

(and if in December; the MKC is down 1.8% and MKX is up 81.4%, who is going to complain?)
 
#33 ·
A couple ( that have been known to show up here to only troll ) over at C&G are claiming GM is " torching fleet sales " and " press releases stating that GM was getting out of the fleet market ".

Yet straight from GM Press Release states the opposite.

" GM commercial fleet is up. Commercial deliveries were up 9 percent and have increased year over year for 29 consecutive months. Sales to Government customers were up 23 percent. "
 
#25 ·
" Across the industry, TrueCar estimates incentive spending per vehicle rose 10 percent to $3,005 last month compared with March 2015. BMW AG had the highest average incentive last month at $4,816, TrueCar estimates, followed by Daimler AG ($3,981); GM ($3,943); FCA ($3,887); Nissan ($3,362); VW Group ($3,349); Ford ($3,271); Kia ($2,868); Hyundai ($2,163); Toyota ($2,027); Honda ($1,590) and Subaru ($569). "


http://www.autonews.com/article/20160401/RETAIL01/304019976?template=mobile
 
#26 ·
Almost 100,000 trucks and vans. Say it again, 100,000! Just incredible! When you factor everything in (ATP, volume, plant utilisation, incentives), Ford had a stellar month, plain and simple.

And Lincoln is being rewarded for their focus on what people want. Even MKT is off to a great start this year. The new MKZ can't come soon enough, to ride this momentum!!!
 
#32 ·
The base I4 camaro has yet to fill lots, so there are some missing sales there.
But at the same time, camaro is still selling last gen model, heavily discounted. That is a combination of sales that Mustang does not enjoy, although Mustang has also benefited from a slight boost in fleet as well. When I travel to California, I see convertible stangs everywhere, many of which are rental. I think camaro will see brighter days.
 
#35 · (Edited)
Sorry late to the discussion at FIN again...

The interesting part for me was not how GM stepped away from daily rental sales but
how Ford embraced them and still saw an increase in Ford ATP of $1,600 year on year.

Now, if indeed all those extra daily Rental sales were sooo bad for business and profit,
how the heck did Ford manage that impressive increase in ATP?

Is some of that increase due to the fact that Ford includes its heavy Truck sales data
when determining ATPs compared to other data sources that exclude them and quote
just obver an $800 increase?

Looking forward to seeing Financials for respective Q1 performance form both
as I believe it will be compelling reading in how two companies use different
strategies to achieve their respective goals..
 
#36 ·
Just to be clear, GM did NOT step away from rentals, it merely scaled back. Temporarily, no doubt. Ford has done similar many times in the past. Remember, rentals is only a small percentage of fleet sales, which is a percentage of total sales. Pretty small numbers, overall, in either direction.

As for ATP's rising, my guess is that a good portion of that increase is obviously due to all the premium trimmed Ford vehicles being offered. Titanium and Platinum SUV's and trucks especially.

And yes, it really does come down to financials, and that story will be interesting to see, but any perceived strategy we see, is most likely temporary or periodic.
 
#40 ·
Indeed.

This month's overall sales victory is the fruit of a product strategy at Dearborn that also resulted in them finishing third in retail behind GM and FCA for at least one month last year. In the immortal words of Wolfman Jack, "it all depends on what your boogaloo situation is, you know what I'm saying."
 
#41 ·
Most likely caused by GM all but giving up on the commercial van market. The ancient Express/Savana and rebadged City Express are nothing compared to the critically acclaimed Transit and Transit Connect. :grin2:

Where GM fails, Ford sees immense opportunity.
 
#55 · (Edited)
Actually, according to GMI, GM's daily rental fleet sales reduction YOY has been about 43,000 units. Assuming that Ford snatched up half of that (and with asrutherford's claim over there that Ford's fleet sales last month were 37%, it's certainly possible), that's about a 65,000 unit sales swing, initiated entirely by GM's decision to cool the jets.

So perhaps the accurate statement is: where GM drops crumbs, Ford sees a Happy Meal.
For what it's worth, that is probably a fair analogy - even if it's not the exact same 43,000 fleet sales..
It's sales that Ford would not otherwise have picked up and March's sales would have stayed similar to last year..

Still, I hazard a guess that GM decides to ease back in daily rental sales because of the obvious pursuit
of Retail but also concurrent with changeover with some key products like Cruze and Malibu.

Not saying that's entirely the case but I'm a believer that old saying, "As one door closes, another opens."
in that, GM got what it wanted (greater Retail sales %) and likewise Ford got what it wanted (increased overall sales)

Think about how this actually suits both manufacturers and I get the sense of some sort of beautiful Mind type situation
where competitors in a market work together to benefit the group....:wink2:

Sometimes we focus so much on the brands' differences that the obvious is sometimes missed.
At some points GM and Ford compete but then in other markets, deliberately move products away
from each other to get better returns without so much competition.....that's too much of a coincidence.
 
#57 ·
For what it's worth, that is probably a fair analogy - .
Given the same ingredients, Ford makes a Happy Meal, and GM leaves them on the ground. Different strategy, but VoD's dislike of how Ford is running their business doesn't make the ATP increase of $1600 Ford managed last month along with lower incentives than GM even with high fleet sales somehow disappear.
 
#44 ·
I don't remember ever saying that, actually, although I do recall saying it would be nice if that would be the case. I didn't anticipate Ford doing a Mustang with a cooking V6 and hardly any options, but some roads are best not pursuing.

I DO notice that the comments section at MT are pretty lively with Camaro discussion. Two of the three mods who used to be in the forums help out over there still. One appears to have went away.

Anyways, I still post stuff there, C&G, and GMI. What is understood need not be discussed.
 
#52 ·
Wow, GM saw that much of a drop in rental fleet YOY? I would say that was a long time coming, and thank goodness. Good for them. Of course, GM's 28.5% increase in incentive spending (far more than Ford) won't exactly bolster their financial outlook much. Meanwhile, Ford saw a huge increase in ATP's, so their mix seems pretty good. Even Lincoln limping along totally slapped down Cadillac.

And BTW, Ford's rental fleet went from 12% to 17% YOY, which is front loaded of course as stated. And contrary to what GMI may believe, Ford is happily yanking the profitable commercial fleet business right out from under GM. And I bet Ford's financial story continues to prove their efforts are on the smarter track. After all, a goal without the right plan, is just a wish.
 
#56 ·
One of the biggest misreads on Mustang is the V6, everyone thinks it's just a base $24K entry model for fleets
but them miss the fact that Ford still has quite a few at dealerships.

there's also a V6 Convertible....IIRC, it's around $28K and not bad if you're into less performance and more top down,
relaxed sports car driving.
 
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