Ford Gains in April

Ford’s overall volume dipped in April compared with year-ago, but deliveries improved 3.0% on a daily-sales basis with the Navigator luxury SUV leading the way.

The Ford brand was up 3.4% while Lincoln declined 4.8% on a daily-sales basis, according to Wards Intelligence data, with car sales down 7.9% while light trucks were up 6.5% for the month compared with year-ago. April had 24 selling days, down two from like-2017.

Ford delivered 197,771 light vehicles during April, down from 207,962 year-ago, including 155,398 light trucks and 42,373 cars compared with 158,105 trucks and 49,857 cars last year.

The Navigator, with volume up 76.4% so far this year, posted a 141% daily-sales leap on 5,628 deliveries, with transaction prices averaging $81,200, up $26,300 on the new vehicle as many buyers opted for the opulent Black Label trim level.

Retail sales of the companion Ford Expedition were up 25.8%, although the all-new model was off 15.8% on daily sales from year-ago. Ford delivered 5,277 new-to-U.S. EcoSport small CUVs, bringing its year-to-date total to 11,373.

The F-Series pickup logged another strong month, posting an 11.4% daily-sales gain on volume of 67,019 trucks.

The Edge CUV was up a modest 0.2% while car sales declined for all but the Focus (+6.7%) and Fiesta (+2.5%). The Transit large commercial van gained 13.2%.

Even with Navigator’s growth and a 4.8% spike in MKX midsize CUV sales, Lincoln was off 4.8% with the Continental large luxury sedan down 6.4%, MKC small luxury CUV dropping 26.1%, and MKZ midsize sedan plummeting 31%.

Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president-U.S. marketing, sales and service, says he doubts Fusion and Fiesta sales will collapse following Ford’s end-of-first-quarter announcement that it plans to shelve the two car lines in North America. Ford’s car portfolio going forward will include only the Mustang and the Focus Active, a taller, 5-door version of the small car.

LaNeve says the Dearborn automaker will appeal to customers with expanded CUV offerings, including off-road models such as the Bronco, and ST performance variants of the Edge and Explorer.

“We plan to enter white spaces for Ford and white spaces for the industry,” LaNeve says. “Frankly, Jeep has had a lot of that to themselves.”

In March, Ford leadership detailed plans to remake the company’s lineup, replacing more than 75% of its current models in the next two years and shifting to a portfolio made up of 86% trucks and SUVs by 2020.

[email protected] @bobgritzinger