PREMiERdrum Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 (edited) April 1, 2014 Ford’s Best March Retail Sales Result in Eight Years Led by Fusion and F-Series; Lincoln Up 31 Percent Ford Motor Company March U.S. sales increase 3 percent compared to last year with 244,167 vehicles sold; retail sales of 166,030 vehicles up 3 percent for the best March retail result in eight years Ford Fusion posts record sales month with 32,963 cars sold, up 9 percent from last year’s record month Ford F-Series tops 70,000-vehicle mark with 70,940 vehicles sold, up 5 percent Lincoln MKZ sales increase 72 percent for a best-ever record sales month; Lincoln total sales up 31 percent Ford Motor Company U.S. total March sales of 244,167 vehicles are up 3 percent from a year ago. Retail sales of 166,030 vehicles are up 3 percent and represent the best March result in eight years. “March sales turned noticeably higher mid-month and finished strong,” said John Felice, Ford vice president, U.S. marketing, sales and service. “Fusion set an all-time record in March, as overall retail sales in the West continued to expand at the fastest rate in the nation – including California being up 32 percent. F-Series also had a very strong month, as did Lincoln MKZ.” Ford Fusion sales of 32,963 vehicles set an all-time monthly record since the vehicle was introduced in 2005. The western region of the U.S. continues to drive Fusion retail sales higher, including a 22 percent increase in March. Ford F-Series surpassed the 70,000-vehicle sales mark with 70,940 trucks sold. During the last seven years, F-Series has surpassed the monthly 70,000 truck mark only four times. Last month marks F-Series’ highest March sales volume since 2008. Lincoln MKZ sales of 4,052 vehicles are up 72 percent, setting an all-time monthly sales record. The strong performance of MKZ drove overall Lincoln sales to a 31 percent increase in March, the sixth straight month of sales gains. During the last six months, Lincoln has increased sales 27 percent with 43,445 vehicles sold. Release: http://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2014/04/01/march2014sales.html Tables: https://media.ford.com/content/dam/fordmedia/North%20America/US/2014/04/01/march14sales.pdf Edited April 1, 2014 by PREMiERdrum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Holy Fusion and F-Series! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jinx8402 Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 March 2013 was right about when MKZ's started shipping with regularity, so we can finally start to see apple to apple comparisons of '13 vs '14 sales. It'll be interesting to see how it fares over the next couple of months vs last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 March 2013 was right about when MKZ's started shipping with regularity, so we can finally start to see apple to apple comparisons of '13 vs '14 sales. It'll be interesting to see how it fares over the next couple of months vs last year. Forget the monthly sales increase - 4,052 units is an all time high for MKZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Whats up with the C-Max? Its down 42% this year...thats not good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpvbs Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 The 2014 GM P/Us are not making any impact. Ford should feel no pressure to rush the F150 release. They can take their time a get it right. It is almost a little disappointing that they are going to retire the current model while it is still dominating the competition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chucky2 Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 I wonder what GM is going to do. They've come out with their 2014 1/2 ton, and while I wouldn't say it's a flop, it's certainly not generating any kind of excitement in anyone who is not already in the 'I'll only by GM and nothing else' category. These 1/2 tons are huge cash cows for any company, so when your cash cow product is basically choking against a 3 year or so old product, WTF does that say about your revenue future? I'd love to be a fly on the wall at GM 1/2 ton leadership product team meetings, it's got to be...concerned...times over there... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jinx8402 Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Forget the monthly sales increase - 4,052 units is an all time high for MKZ. No doubt, but it would be great to see where the trend goes. Also could have been because of the down month in February due to the all the snow and people finally bought in March. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Not many weak spots left in the lineup at all. Even some of the older products like Edge and MKX are still doing well. Overall, I think MKZ sales should be making Lincoln dealers finally breathe a sigh of relief. It appears to be bringing in steady, if not hugely increased traffic-- enough at least that they should be able to hold out for the arrival of MKC later in the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grbeck Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Not many weak spots left in the lineup at all. Even some of the older products like Edge and MKX are still doing well. Overall, I think MKZ sales should be making Lincoln dealers finally breathe a sigh of relief. It appears to be bringing in steady, if not hugely increased traffic-- enough at least that they should be able to hold out for the arrival of MKC later in the year. Are there many standalone Lincoln dealers left? In central Pennsylvania, I can think of one dealer that only sells Lincolns...it was a Lincoln-Mercury dealer in business for decades when Ford killed Mercury, and has not merged with a nearby Ford dealer. Every other Lincoln-Mercury dealer in the area was merged with a local Ford dealer before Mercury was discontinued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
630land Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 "Fusion will never sell more than 10K a month..." unknown BON member Wow, 30K+! Who ever said US makes would "never be strong in car sales again" was wrong. Many look at Camrys as 'boring' and couldn't care less about Comsumer Reports or 1980's bad quality memories. Today's 39 y/o has no grudges like 60-somethings about US cars. "I had a 74 Pinto and it was crap, so never again". Well 40 years is long enough to get over a junky car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKII Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Ford raised the model's incentives 32 percent to meet growing competition in the contested family-car market. Ford raised incentives on the Fusion by $770 over last year to an average $3,160 per model, which Merkle said was $80 below the average discount in the mid-sized car category. Still, the Fusion sold for an average of about $23,500, putting it above Camry and near the top of the category, Merkle said. The Fusion's average price was down from a year earlier, he added, without specifying by how much. http://www.autonews.com/article/20140331/RETAIL01/303319872/ford-fusion-sales-hit-u-s-record-on-fatter-deals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Ford raised the model's incentives 32 percent to meet growing competition in the contested family-car market. Ford raised incentives on the Fusion by $770 over last year to an average $3,160 per model, which Merkle said was $80 below the average discount in the mid-sized car category. Still, the Fusion sold for an average of about $23,500, putting it above Camry and near the top of the category, Merkle said. The Fusion's average price was down from a year earlier, he added, without specifying by how much. http://www.autonews.com/article/20140331/RETAIL01/303319872/ford-fusion-sales-hit-u-s-record-on-fatter-deals Is that a typo? Seems REALLY low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKII Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Bloomberg article wrote that Fusion's average transaction price was $26,586 in February 2013. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-31/fusion-leads-u-s-cars-driving-sales-gains-eluding-camry.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 (edited) Bloomberg article wrote that Fusion's average transaction price was $26,586 in February 2013. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-31/fusion-leads-u-s-cars-driving-sales-gains-eluding-camry.html So it's down over $3k in a year? Edited April 1, 2014 by Intrepidatious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Whats up with the C-Max? Its down 42% this year...thats not good. I mentioned it last month when we were discussing the same trend......it seems like ever since the mileage numbers adjustment that sales of it have dropped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKII Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 (edited) So it's down over $3k in a year? As I understand there is a price war in the USA, with both Toyota and Honda heavily discounting their mid-size family sedans. Edited April 1, 2014 by MKII Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 So it's down over $3k in a year? Yet incentives are only up $770, and the Fusion is still near the top of the segment and above the bellweather. So my guess is that the whole segment is softening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 I mentioned it last month when we were discussing the same trend......it seems like ever since the mileage numbers adjustment that sales of it have dropped That and I just don't see a huge market for that kind of car. What is the Prius-v selling like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 That and I just don't see a huge market for that kind of car. What is the Prius-v selling like? No idea.... :shrug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PREMiERdrum Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 Yet incentives are only up $770, and the Fusion is still near the top of the segment and above the bellweather. So my guess is that the whole segment is softening. Isn't it typical, especially of Fords of late, that the first-year sales have skewed more heavily to the higher trims? I remember a similar phenomenon with the Fiesta and Focus launches. I know that the new Escape launch was met with higher-than-expected demand for Titanium trims... I wonder if it is following suit as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goinbroke2 Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 We just picked up two prius's. (against my much screaming/yelling) Now we have 4 prius's and two leaf's. Yes they are a money loser and not practical at all but "it looks good for the military to be green" I think it's called social engineering, paid for by the taxpayer. Or in other words...BULLSH#$!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 We just picked up two prius's. (against my much screaming/yelling) Now we have 4 prius's and two leaf's. Yes they are a money loser and not practical at all but "it looks good for the military to be green" I think it's called social engineering, paid for by the taxpayer. Or in other words...BULLSH#$!!! You'd think they'd at least pick American-branded vehicles.....then again, it's government 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Whats up with the C-Max? Its down 42% this year...thats not good. Sales of all hybrids are falling. Prius YTD sales have fallen 21% compared to last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
630land Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Posted before about "What is a C-Max?". People ignored them at Auto Show, and my friends were like 'wtf is that?'. Big mistake to drop the Escape Hybrid model. Sure, they need to pay off the C Max tooling, but why cancel a good selling model? Should bring back Escape hybrid and also a new Focus version. Or, rename C-Max as 'Focus Max hybrid'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.