The Ford brand finished 2015 strong by posting an 8.2% volume gain in December and claiming the title of America’s top-selling marque for the sixth year in a row with 2,511,935 total-vehicle sales in 2015, according to the automaker.
Lincoln chipped in another 101,227 sales, pushing overall Ford sales above 2.6 million for the year. Car sales were off 0.9% at 797,817, while SUVs climbed 7.8% to 804,325, and trucks soared 8.7% to 1,011,020 for 2015.
According to WardsAuto data, the Ford brand’s light-vehicle total came in at 2,447,747, up 5.4% from 2014, outselling Chevrolet by 322,400 units. Lincoln pushed overall sales to 2,548,974. Light trucks were up 8.5% to 1,751,157 units, while car sales dipped 0.9% to 797,817.
“December capped off six straight months of year-over-year sales gains for F-Series, with strong increases coming from both retail sales and the strength of commercial fleet orders, as we closed out 2015,” says Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president-U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service.
“Ford-brand SUVs delivered their best sales results in more than a decade, with our newest SUVs leaving dealer lots in a matter of days.”
Ford says its total sales of 2,613,162 vehicles were up 5% from 2014, marking the company’s highest annual sales since 2006. LaNeve says December sales were Ford’s best since 2005, with SUVs led by Escape, Edge and Explorer hitting their best numbers since 2003.
But it was the F-Series light-duty pickup that led the charge in December, posting a 5.8% gain daily (two more selling days this year than last) compared with December 2014, according to WardsAuto data, finishing the year up 3.6% at 726,246 units.
Overall, Ford daily sales for December rose a slight 0.3%, WardsAuto data shows.
LaNeve says strong housing starts, especially in the Northeast, helped push F-Series sales to their highest level in a decade. Ford Chief Economist Emily Kolinski Morris concurs and says all signs point to continued strong growth in 2016.
On the car and utilities side, Mustang topped 122,000 sales, up 48% for the year, while the all-new Edge saw a 14% jump in 2015, second only to a nearly 19% increase for the Explorer.
Ford’s small vans also saw huge gains, with the Transit posting a whopping 475% increase to 117,000 units in 2015.
The Lincoln brand posted a 7.1% gain for the year, driven by an 88% increase for the MKC small CUV and a 14.7% gain for the Navigator large CUV. The MKX CUV and all Lincoln car models were down for the year.
