Ford Motor Company August 2015 Sales Results

[akirby]

Strong Demand for New Products Boosts Ford August U.S. Sales to Best Levels in 9 Years

• Ford Motor Company total U.S. sales up 5 percent – the best August performance in nine years
• Ford F-Series sells above the 70,000-truck mark for the first time this year; F-Series retail sales up 15 percent; commercial vans up 70 percent – best August sales since 1994
• Ford brand SUVs reach best August sales in 12 years, with all-new Ford Edge up 36 percent and new Ford Explorer up 22 percent
• Ford Mustang sales up 70 percent – the best August performance since 2007
• Lincoln sales increase 6 percent, providing the brand with the best August performance in seven years

https://media.ford.com/content/dam/fordmedia/North%20America/US/2015/09/01/august2015sales.pdf

[silvrsvt]

I know this is a pain in the ass, and I forget to use the new content feature, but can you make a link in the Ford forum for this? I don't think many people will see this here.

[rmc523]

I know this is a pain in the ass, and I forget to use the new content feature, but can you make a link in the Ford forum for this? I don't think many people will see this here.

 

Yes, agreed. I thought we were going to have the sales threads start in the main Ford Discussion area (as they're released) for a few weeks and then move it to production and sales then?

 

---

 

To answer the questions raised in the other thread, yes MKXs are at dealers now, but I think they're just starting to trickle in slowly. I've seen one or two at the local dealer. And actually just last night saw a new one on the road (I was at a restaurant and saw it pass by). That rear 3/4 looks fantastic.....definitely the best angle of the car, IMO. In a related note, MKC seems to be doing well and slowly but surely increasing.

 

I'm seeing new Edges around too. I've noticed that similar to Fusion, the lower trims' running lights are just the dimmed brake lights, while the upper trims get the full width lightbar as the running lights.

[PREMiERdrum]

Yes, agreed. I thought we were going to have the sales threads start in the main Ford Discussion area (as they're released) for a few weeks and then move it to production and sales then?

 

This was my suggestion to Robert, and they agreed with it.

[rmc523]

 

This was my suggestion to Robert, and they agreed with it.

 

Yeah, I thought so. Why it's different this month, I don't know haha.

[akirby]

I forgot that was the agreement, and nobody has been moving any of the threads. I'll move it back and move it back back later.

[rmc523]

I forgot that was the agreement, and nobody has been moving any of the threads. I'll move it back and move it back back later.

 

Sheesh, these heavy handed moderators around here....

Edited September 1, 2015 by rmc523

[ice-capades]

From what I've been able to see so far it looks like Ford surprised a lot of people with the strong results for August. The Northeast never seems to do as well as the national results but at least at our CT store August was another record breaking month. July was the best month of the year-to-date but August saw us match numbers we haven't seen probably in at least 15 years!

[akirby]

What happened to Focus???

[bdegrand]

What happened to Focus???

I noticed Focus finally outsold the Cruze in August and almost triple outsold the Dart.

[bzcat]

• Vans sales are on fire.
• Edge deliveries getting robust.
• Explorer numbers are amazing.
• Fusion and Escape are flat vs. last year.
• Focus took a summer vacation...

Looks like the mid cycle update of Focus was too little too late. I waited 3 months for the numbers to flip but evidently it's not going to. Some of it is probably the cheap gas but you don't see the big drop off in sales with Corolla, Civic, or even Jetta/Golf.

 

The lack of 1.5 Ecoboost and 6 speed auto is going to continue to haunt the Focus line. Especially when the new Civic comes out next year.

 

 

 

[akirby]

Maybe the entire market is down, not just Focus?

[fuzzymoomoo]

Maybe the entire market is down, not just Focus?

 

Corolla- August 2015: 31,726 August 2014: 33,088 -4.1%

Civic - August 2015: 32,031 August 2014: 34,032 -5.9%

Cruze* - August 2015: 14,661 August 2014: 23,435 -37.4%

Dart - August 2015: 6,154 August 2014: 8,390 -27%

 

With exception of Cruze (I suspect its down due to people waiting for the new model) the segment appears to be down, but not significantly

[aneekr]

 

Corolla- August 2015: 31,726 August 2014: 33,088 -4.1%

Civic - August 2015: 32,031 August 2014: 34,032 -5.9%

Cruze* - August 2015: 14,661 August 2014: 23,435 -37.4%

Dart - August 2015: 6,154 August 2014: 8,390 -27%

 

With exception of Cruze (I suspect its down due to people waiting for the new model) the segment appears to be down, but not significantly

 

Thanks fuzzymoomoo! Here are figures for some other C-segment cars:

 

Jetta sedan - August 2015: 11,002 August 2014: 13,406 -17.9%

Impreza - August 2015: 7,074 August 2014: 5,938 +19.1%

Sentra - August 2015: 15,662 August 2014: 17,182 -8.8%

Elantra - August 2015: 22,405 August 2014: 22,845 -1.9%

Forte - August 2015: 6,862 August 2014: 5,759 +19.1%

 

Still waiting for sales figures for Mazda3 on mazdausamedia.com...

 

Thus, it appears that Impreza and Forte are the standouts this month and Focus, Dart, and Cruze are the laggards.

[aneekr]

Looks like the mid cycle update of Focus was too little too late. I waited 3 months for the numbers to flip but evidently it's not going to. Some of it is probably the cheap gas but you don't see the big drop off in sales with Corolla, Civic, or even Jetta/Golf.

 

I agree. The agile handling that was a hallmark of Mk3 Focus upon launch in 2011 is now bested by Mazda 3, which has a better reliability record than Focus to boot. And if Honda manages to get its mojo back with the tenth gen Civic coming out later this month, sales of Focus are likely to remain in the doldrums.

[akirby]

In that case my guess would be there were some killer incentives on Forte and Impreza.

[Hugh]

 

I agree. The agile handling that was a hallmark of Mk3 Focus upon launch in 2011 is now bested by Mazda 3, which has a better reliability record than Focus to boot. And if Honda manages to get its mojo back with the tenth gen Civic coming out later this month, sales of Focus are likely to remain in the doldrums.

I think the Mazda 3 maintains it's handling and reliability is because it's the same platform since 2005. IIRC, the only major changes were the 'SkyActiv' powerplants.

[NLPRacing]

What happened to Focus???

 

Cheap gas happened. When gas is around $2 or less, people buy big trucks & SUV's. When it goes to $3 or more, people buy little cars & CUV's.

[fuzzymoomoo]

In that case my guess would be there were some killer incentives on Forte and Impreza.

I'm still hearing the buy 1 get one free offer for the Forte and Soul on local radio here. Still have no idea how they get away with that.

[MKII]

Seems that the Fusion could have used a little attention aka , new features/offerings.

Year to date the Fusion is down over 12,000 units, whereas the Focus is down just over 10,000 units.

Maybe cars are not such a priority with Ford USA anymore.

[fuzzymoomoo]

Seems that the Fusion could have used a little attention aka , new features/offerings.

Year to date the Fusion is down over 12,000 units, whereas the Focus is down just over 10,000 units.

Maybe cars are not such a priority with Ford USA anymore.

Refresh is coming for next model year

[630land]

With gas so cheap, buyers are now ignoring MPG ratings. "Honey, we can get that SUV now!"

"Man, I've always wanted a truck!"

 

If other compacts are down, cannot blame the Focus's drop on the styling. Civic and Corolla seem to still get buyers, they have loyalty from "Point A to Point B" buyers.

And no, a wagon or coupe would not help sales. They'd be collecting dust, young buyers these days want either Jeeps or call Uber to get a ride. Sporty FWD coupes like ZX2 are passe'.

[630land]

"Maybe cars are not such a priority with Ford USA anymore."

 

Same with Honda/Toyota, with new Pilot, and the CRV now outselling Accord. I hate seeing all the breadboxes weaving in traffic, but average buyers do not care about handling, driving dynamics and MPG [for now}. They want the high seating, to see which lane to swtich to without looking or signaling, going wherever.

[grbeck]

With gas so cheap, buyers are now ignoring MPG ratings. "Honey, we can get that SUV now!"

"Man, I've always wanted a truck!"

 

If other compacts are down, cannot blame the Focus's drop on the styling. Civic and Corolla seem to still get buyers, they have loyalty from "Point A to Point B" buyers.

And no, a wagon or coupe would not help sales. They'd be collecting dust, young buyers these days want either Jeeps or call Uber to get a ride. Sporty FWD coupes like ZX2 are passe'.

I'm surprised at the sales of the Civic, given that Honda is formally introducing the next-generation model (and it will be all-new) on September 16. Perhaps Honda is offering sweet deals to clear out the 2015 models.

 

A Honda salesman on another site says that his dealership is selling the new HR-V and Pilot as fast as they come off the truck.

 

Regarding the Focus, I wonder if buyers are still leery of the Powershift automatic transmission. That unit didn't earn a good reputation for the first few years. My brother-in-law bought a slightly used Fiesta, and he traded it within a year, as he couldn't stand that transmission.

[akirby]

Seems that the Fusion could have used a little attention aka , new features/offerings.

Year to date the Fusion is down over 12,000 units, whereas the Focus is down just over 10,000 units.

Maybe cars are not such a priority with Ford USA anymore.

 

Just because sales are down doesn't necessarily mean that it's due to a lack of new features or styling. Competitors may have bigger incentives e.g. That said a refresh wouldn't hurt at all.