Ford Motor Company March 2015 sales down 3%

[PREMiERdrum]

Ford U.S. March Retail Sales Best in Nine Years, Driven by Strong F-Series, Van, Explorer, Mustang Performance

• F-Series, America’s best-selling truck, posts retail sales increase of 10 percent for March – propelled by all-new F-150; Transit, Transit Connect and E-Series drive a 42 percent increase in Ford van sales versus year-ago levels
• Explorer posts a 17 percent gain for March – best March sales performance in 10 years; Mustang sales increase 36 percent, for best performance in eight years
• Lincoln retail sales up 7 percent for March versus year ago
• Ford Motor Company U.S. sales of 235,929 total vehicles for March represent a 3 percent decline compared to a year ago; retail sales up 1 percent, marking best performance since 2006. Fleet sales were off 13 percent based on fleet order timing

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DEARBORN, Mich., April 1, 2015 – Ford Motor Company posted its best U.S. retail sales in nine years, driven by strong demand for its new products, including F-Series, Mustang and Transit.

Ford continues prioritizing retail sales to meet strong consumer demand, resulting in lower fleet and overall sales for the month. Ford’s March retail sales were up 1 percent, fleet sales were down 13 percent, and overall sales were 235,929 vehicles, down 3 percent.

Retail demand for F-Series was strong, with March retail sales up 10 percent. Kansas City Assembly is back up and building all-new regular cab and extended-box F-150 trucks to fill our upcoming commercial orders and further build on F-150 momentum this year.

“Our retail performance was driven by gains across our utility van and truck lineups with strong consumer acceptance of the all-new F-150.” said Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. “We are especially pleased to post our best retail March sales performance in nine years, despite tight supply across our F-Series lineup.”

Transit, along with Transit Connect and E-Series provided a 42 percent increase in total Ford van sales with 20,821 vehicles sold in March. This is Ford’s best March commercial van sales performance since 1994, and its best first-quarter sales performance since 1995.

Explorer sales were up 17 percent, with sales of 20,765 vehicles in March. This marks the best March sales results for America’s top-selling midsize SUV since 2005.

Mustang sales of 12,663 cars increased 36 percent – representing the pony car’s best March performance since 2007 and further solidifying it as America’s best-selling sports car since launch of the all-new model last fall.

Lincoln retail sales rose 7 percent versus a year ago, as Lincoln MKC continues to build momentum for the luxury brand with sales topping 2,000 vehicles in March. Navigator also contributed to the gains, posting a 47 percent increase compared to a year ago.

 

 

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2015/04/01/march2015sales.html

 

[PREMiERdrum]

Numbers all look good. I had forgotten how big of a month March 2014 was.

 

That said, 67k F-series last month while the changeover is still in progress... that's encouraging. 20k Explorers, too!

 

They need to do something for MKC. The goofy McConaughey ads aren't working.

[akirby]

I think we'll see MKC sales rise steadily. There is only so much you can do with advertising - you need vehicles on the street, too. And this is Lincoln's first foray into that market segment. If they're still stuck at 2000 in a year, I'll be worried.

[PREMiERdrum]

My notes from the GM sales thread...

 

(Ford) Fleet down 13%, retail up 1%.

(GM) Fleet up 2%, retail down 5%.

 

Ram within 4,000 units of Silverado.

 

F-Series back to beaing combined Silverado / Sierra by 5,000 units, even as F-Series changeover continues.

 

200 handily outsold lame-duck Malibu.

 

Cadillac continues to have its ass saved by Escalade, still posted a 6% decline for the brand.

 

ATS and CTS down 31.6% and 48.6% respectively, combined selling only 3,539 units. Ouch.

[aneekr]

They need to do something for MKC. The goofy McConaughey ads aren't working.

 

Discontinuing the model - and the brand to which it belongs - would be a good start.

[PREMiERdrum]

 

Discontinuing the model - and the brand to which it belongs - would be a good start.

 

Just like the SRX and RX3__ should be discontinued, right? C'mon... these things are hot right now and customers are buying them by the truckload. Lincoln's entry is very strong and IMHO suffers from a lack of awareness. I'd love to see the lot visit success potential. I'd guess once they get people to look, they'll buy.

[aneekr]

There were 25 selling days in March 2015 compared to 26 in March 2014. Thus, on a DSR adjusted basis, Ford's overall sales last month were up by 0.49% (essentially flat) compared to the previous March.

[sullynd]

MkT outsold SS and ELR combined.

Flex back to outselling C-Max.

[papilgee4evaeva]

There were 25 selling days in March 2015 compared to 26 in March 2014. Thus, on a DSR adjusted basis, Ford's overall sales last month were up by 0.49% (essentially flat) compared to the previous March.

 

That's actually an improvement over what the press release states.

[papilgee4evaeva]

So let's see...

Transit more than offsets E-Series loss.

A little fullsize SUV MCE still goes a long way.

Both PIs increasing. I don't think that's happened in a while.

[jpd80]

March figures are in,
Explorer....20,765 (+17%)
PI Ute.........2,293 (+44.9%)

Taurus.......3,224 (-43.3%)
PI.................940 (+6%)

MKS..............838 (-19%)

Flex.............1,848 (-26%)
MKT...............373 (-32.9%)

While D3 had a good month with over 28,000 units sold from Chicago plant,
adding Flex and MKT takes the tally to well over 30,000 for the month.

Not bad considering where D3 sales were before elimination of BOF Explorer and Crown Vic, Grand Marquis and Town Car.

[grbeck]

They need to do something for MKC. The goofy McConaughey ads aren't working.

If our Ford-Lincoln dealer is any indication, the dealers need to start pushing them. This is a large, respected dealer with modern facilities. All of the Lincolns, however, have been relegated to the back of the lot, where people driving by and walking by the dealership cannot see them.

[fuzzymoomoo]

Can the C-max just die already?

 

I wonder what the mix of '14 vs '15 model focus is....

[Edstock]

 

Discontinuing the model - and the brand to which it belongs - would be a good start.

 

Patience, Grasshopper, patience. The re-building of the Lincoln brand will take the rest of this decade and longer. Consider how many years it took your M-B to produce the AMG's and all the other ubersleds that you are in thrall of? From 1945, it took almost 20 years to their first big V-8's.

[jpd80]

ATS 2,039 2,982 (-31.6)

CTS 1,500 2,918 (-48.6)

 

As bad as Lincoln's figures are, GM has paid a lot for indifferent sales of RWDs.....This does not bode well for CT6

 

Anyone else notice that prominence of Utilities at Lincoln now exceeds cars

Lincoln cars.........3,680 5,086 -27.6

Lincoln Utilities,,,,,5,015 3,883 +29.2

Edited April 1, 2015 by jpd80

[RichardJensen]

 

Discontinuing the model - and the brand to which it belongs - would be a good start.

 

Certainly, you would advocate a similar approach to the CTS and ATS, given *their* performance in the market.

[akirby]

So now Caddy will have 3 vehicles that together may not outsell the old CTS?

[atomcat68]

ATS 2,039 2,982 (-31.6)

CTS 1,500 2,918 (-48.6)

 

As bad as Lincoln's figures are, GM has paid a lot for indifferent sales of RWDs.....This does not bode well for CT6

 

Anyone else notice that prominence of Utilities at Lincoln now exceeds cars

Lincoln cars.........3,680 5,086 -27.6

Lincoln Utilities,,,,,5,015 3,883 +29.2

That's been the case with Infiniti, and Lexus too. Doesn't RX account for almost half of Lexus sales?

[jpd80]

So now Caddy will have 3 vehicles that together may not outsell the old CTS?

While the workhorse SRX 5,000 and XTS 2,367 are treated with contempt

 

 

Transit 9.751.

 

So much for internet experts predicting that lower E Series could never be replaced...

Edited April 1, 2015 by jpd80

[grbeck]

That's been the case with Infiniti, and Lexus too. Doesn't RX account for almost half of Lexus sales?

It's also probably the case with Acura. The RDX and MDX have been keeping the lights on for the division.

[akirby]

That's pretty much the case with every full line mfr in North America. We love our utilities.

[papilgee4evaeva]

Anyone else notice that prominence of Utilities at Lincoln now exceeds cars

Lincoln cars.........3,680 5,086 -27.6

Lincoln Utilities,,,,,5,015 3,883 +29.2

 

Well, there are twice as many utilities as cars...

[papilgee4evaeva]

I just noticed this...

 

Camaro 5,956

Mustang 12,663

 

That's more than double.

[grbeck]

That's pretty much the case with every full line mfr in North America. We love our utilities.

It's worth noting that the Honda CR-V has outsold the Accord for a few months this year.

Edited April 1, 2015 by grbeck

[aneekr]

 

Certainly, you would advocate a similar approach to the CTS and ATS, given *their* performance in the market.

 

At this juncture, I'm inclined to do that. The fact that these two award winning Cadillac products - both of which deliver the best driving dynamics in their respective segments - have not been able to match the sales success of competitive products from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi doesn't bode well for the likes of Acura, Infiniti, Volvo, and Lincoln. The barriers to entry in the premium car market may prove insurmountable for those minor brands as well as for Cadillac.