Ford Sales Dip, Lincoln Steady in September

Despite record-setting F-Series truck sales in September, total Ford deliveries dropped 7.9% for the month as the company saw average daily sales declines in nearly every vehicle segment, WardsAuto data shows.

Overall, Ford was down on both a volume and daily-selling-rate basis. However, both were measured against an extraordinarily strong September a year ago, notes Mark LaNeve, vice president-U.S. marketing, sales and service. September 2016 and September 2015 each had 25 selling days.

A bright spot was luxury cars, up 15.6% buoyed by the introduction of the all-new ’17 Lincoln Continental which posted 775 sales for the month, offsetting declines for the brand’s MKS and MKZ sedans. Overall car sales were down 20.7% for the month on volume of 50,553 units; light trucks were off 2.6% on volume of 148,946 vehicles.

LaNeve credited strong sales of Transit vans and the launch of the all-new ’17 Super Duty heavy-duty pickup with aiding overall truck sales; only light-duty vehicles are included in WardsAuto data.

“We continue seeing strong customer demand, especially for vans and pickup trucks, including our all-new Super Duty,” says LaNeve. “Demand for a rich mix of our all-new Super Duty pickups helped boost Ford’s average transaction prices by $1,100 versus a year ago, outpacing the industry’s $400 average.”

Super Duty sales pushed the F-Series average transaction price to $62,000 per vehicle, LaNeve says.

Ford-brand sales declined 8.3% in September vs. like 2015, on sales of 190,702 vehicles. A 73% leap in Expedition sales and a 6.4% uptick in Transit small van sales carried the brand, offsetting big declines by the Fiesta (-39.5%), Mustang (-32%), Transit Connect (-29.5%) and C-Max (-27.4%). F-Series posted its best retail month of the year but still dipped 1.9% against record F-Series sales a year ago.

Lincoln-brand deliveries totaled 8,797 for the month, up 1.3%, with sales of the small MKC and midsize MKX CUVs fueling the growth. MKX was up 8.7%, while MKC gained 2.3%. Overall, Lincoln was up 8.7% year-to-date on sales of 80,435 units.

LaNeve says September was unexpectedly strong industrywide with a seasonally adjusted annual rate nearing 18 million units, second-best since 1994, and he predicts strong sales to continue into 2017. Ford analysts expect a 17.7 million SAAR for the year.

Ford reported inventory of 651,000 vehicles, an 80-day supply, nearly static with August and up from 599,000 vehicles and a 68-day supply in September 2015. LaNeve says the company’s inventory was abnormally low a year ago, noting September 2014’s supply was 83 days.

[email protected] @bobgritzinger