Ford’s June Sales Dip; F-Series Output Hits Intended Levels

Ford’s U.S. June daily sales declined 2.6%, as consumer preferences continue to shift to trucks from cars and the automaker works to ramp up production of its redesigned F-Series big pickups.

Ford delivered 220,704 vehicles last month, compared with 217,509 in the same period last year, according to WardsAuto data. An extra selling day in the month also drew down the automaker’s year-over-year daily sales comparison.

Ford’s market share ended the month at an estimated 15.0%, which would be down from 15.4% year ago. Year-to-date Ford sales were up 2.0% to 1.26 million from 1.24 million in 2014.

“Consumer demand continues to be strong for our newest vehicles,” says Mark LaNeve, vice president-U.S. marketing, sales and service at Ford.

LaNeve points to particular popularity of the Dearborn, MI, automaker’s new F-Series line, Edge 5-passenger CUV, Explorer midsize SUV and Mustang sports car.

Sales of the F-Series were down 13.3% last month but still turned in relatively strong volume of 51,194 units. That’s nearly 5,500 fewer copies than year-ago, but as Ford continues to increase assembly-plant output of its bread-and-butter truck it is concentrating on retail sales over fleet and commercial deliveries.

“We did reach full production at both (F-Series) plants in June,” LaNeve tells journalists and Wall Street analysts in conference call today.

Average transaction prices of the redone F-Series also underscore its popularity. Buyers are paying an average of $44,000 for the pickups, a June record for the product line and $3,600 higher than June 2014. Sales of the half-ton F-150 are especially brisk, with Ford reporting it sells off dealer lots at twice the pace of its competitors.

Edge sales rose 24.6% to 12,587 and Explorer deliveries jumped 25.2% to 22,549, combining to give Ford its best June SUV sales month since 2002 and reflecting an overall shift in consumer preferences to the products at the expense of cars.

“We expect this shift to continue in to 2020,” Ford chief sales analysts Erich Merkle says.

Ford’s overall truck sales ticked up 0.5% last month to 142,756, while car sales declined 7.8% to 77,948.

The exception on the car side was the redesigned Mustang, which LaNeve called “smokin’ hot” in June on volume of 11,719 units, up a whopping 47.4% vs. year-ago. It is now the most popular sports coupe in the U.S.

The addition of the 2.3L 4-cyl. EcoBoost turbo also appears to be paying dividends, as it became the preferred engine among buyers in the car’s important Southern California market. LaNeve says loyalists are drawn to the car’s redo, as well.

“The all-new Mustang is doing exactly what we wanted it to,” he says.

Redesigned products helped raise Ford-brand sales volume to 212,378, compared with 210,238 year-ago, although the unit witnessed a 3.0% decline in daily sales.

Ford’s premium Lincoln division saw sales rise 9.9% to 8,326 on the strength of 1,947 deliveries of its all-new MKC.

[email protected]