Ford August 2016 Sales Down 8%

[rmc523]

https://corporate.ford.com/content/dam/corporate/en/investors/investor-events/Sales%20Calls/2016/August-2016-Sales-Release-and-Charts.pdf

 

Lincoln, Ford Van Sales Up in August; Total U.S. Sales Down 8 Percent on Lower Industry Volumes

Lincoln sales increase 7 percent in August on gains from new Lincoln MKZ and Lincoln MKX with 9,243 sold; Lincoln retail sales up 10 percent

Ford van sales total 20,355 vehicles for the month best-ever August sales; Ford Transit sales gained 17 percent, with 11,993 vans sold

Ford F-Series sales down 6 percent, with 66,946 trucks sold; August marks F-Series best retail month of the year

Total U.S. company sales of 214,482 vehicles decline 8 percent; retail down 8 percent and fleet down 10 percent

DEARBORN, Mich., Sept. 1, 2016 Lincoln sales rose 7 percent in the U.S. in August versus a year ago with 9,243 vehicles sold, while Ford Motor Company vans reached best-ever August sales with 20,355 vehicles sold. Overall U.S. company sales totaled 214,482 vehicles, an 8 percent decline.

Retail sales totaled 168,543 vehicles for the month an 8 percent decrease. Fleet sales of 45,939 vehicles, including daily rental, commercial and government segments, were down 10 percent.

Lincolns retail sales grew 10 percent, thanks to a 55 percent retail increase in Lincoln MKX sales and an 8 percent uptick in MKZ retail sales.

Strong sales of high-end Lincoln vehicles and Ford SUVs also helped us continue outpacing the industry in average transaction pricing, which increased $1,200 versus a year ago, said Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. Vans continue to be a bright spot for Ford a consistent growth story for us this year.

Augusts record van sales were up 13 percent versus a year ago, driven largely by Ford Transit gaining 17 percent, with 11,993 vehicles sold.

Total truck sales were down 2 percent, with 88,372 vehicles sold. Ford F-Series sales of 66,946 trucks mark a 6 percent decline and F-Series best retail month of the year.

---

 

Vans are up, with MKZ and MKX up also being highlights for the month.

 

I expect Continental to make its first few sales during September.

Edited September 1, 2016 by rmc523

[jpvbs]

[Biker16]

Go Vans!

 

Everything else is Meh.

[BORG]

Lincoln MKX gains are once again related to the low inventory last year, otherwise Lincoln is really just holding flat. Continental should hopefully push them over 10,000 a month by December.

 

It's weird that Ford doesn't want to talk about its record setting Expedition sales. I'm assuming it's for a reason. The Navigator is down quite a bit.

 

Explorer is loosing quite a bit of ground this year despite the major refresh last year, I wonder why this is.

 

Ford Van sales are really saving its butt right now.

 

Ford's car sales are tanking faster than their Crossover sales can make up for it, it's definitely the most rapid decline in the industry. I do think Ford is heading into a very troubled few years. I know they started layoffs at Ford HQ yesterday and I know a few people effected. Not a good time to be a Ford right now. It also means I just lost my A-Plan

 

I know this won't really matter until Ford starts loosing money, or getting close to it which they are obviously trying to get ahead of.

Edited September 1, 2016 by BORG

[ZanatWork]

Obviously, the Flex sales gains are the true story, here.

[Schpark]

Obviously, the Flex sales gains are the true story, here.

 

 

It really is a great vehicle. We love ours.

[630land]

Honda, Toyota and Nissan sales were down too. If Big 3 Japan is down, then the pent up demand may be over.

 

Ford does need to bring out a B class CUV, to compete with HR-V, Spark, and CX-3 though.

[akirby]

Explorer is down 3.5% YTD. How is that "loosing lots of ground"?

 

BTW it's LOSING not LOOSING.

Edited September 1, 2016 by akirby

[rmc523]

Double post.

Edited September 1, 2016 by rmc523

[rmc523]

Explorer is down 3.5% YTD. How is that "loosing lots of ground"?

 

BTW it's LOSING not LOOSING.

Actually, it's down only 1.5% for the year. Or in numbers, it's down 1,913 YTD. Definitely In a tailspin! :rolleyes:

[akirby]

Actually, it's down only 1.5% for the year. Or in numbers, it's down 1,913 YTD. Definitely In a tailspin! :rolleyes:

 

I think you're looking at the wrong chart or wrong vehicle. It's -3.5% 147,246 vs. 152,523

[Gnostic]

 

I think you're looking at the wrong chart or wrong vehicle. It's -3.5% 147,246 vs. 152,523

Explorer and PIU combined are only down 237 units from last year.

Edited September 1, 2016 by Gnostic

[rmc523]

 

I think you're looking at the wrong chart or wrong vehicle. It's -3.5% 147,246 vs. 152,523

I have no idea what I was looking at haha

[bzcat]

Toyota was less than 1,000 units behind Ford this month.

 

The shift from cars to CUV is industry wide but it looks like Ford is not getting a 1 for 1 replacement rate on the swap. YTD, Car sales are down 59k while SUV sales only up 26k - that's the real story.

 

You have to wonder what kind of business Ford could be doing if it had its own Buick Encore, Honda HR-V or Jeep Renegade.

 

Or alternatively, if Ford has another 20k or so Escape capacity somewhere. Honda sold 36k CR-V YTD vs. 28k Escape... roughly 1,000 units a month difference. Some of that went to MKC which has better profit margin. But then again, Acura RDX outsold MKC handily.

 

Edited September 2, 2016 by bzcat

[silvrsvt]

Well I guess Ford saw the softness in Sedan market coming...helps explain what they did with stopping production of the Fusion at Flat Rock.

[Biker16]

Well I guess Ford saw the softness in Sedan market coming...helps explain what they did with stopping production of the Fusion at Flat Rock.

 

maybe they could have done something crazy and sell a Fusion Wagon and Hatch.

[silvrsvt]

 

maybe they could have done something crazy and sell a Fusion Wagon and Hatch.

 

[jasonj80]

Lincoln MKX gains are once again related to the low inventory last year, otherwise Lincoln is really just holding flat. Continental should hopefully push them over 10,000 a month by December.

 

It's weird that Ford doesn't want to talk about its record setting Expedition sales. I'm assuming it's for a reason. The Navigator is down quite a bit.

 

Explorer is loosing quite a bit of ground this year despite the major refresh last year, I wonder why this is.

 

Ford Van sales are really saving its butt right now.

 

Ford's car sales are tanking faster than their Crossover sales can make up for it, it's definitely the most rapid decline in the industry. I do think Ford is heading into a very troubled few years. I know they started layoffs at Ford HQ yesterday and I know a few people effected. Not a good time to be a Ford right now. It also means I just lost my A-Plan

 

I know this won't really matter until Ford starts loosing money, or getting close to it which they are obviously trying to get ahead of.

Apparently there will be a major product meeting in the next month where full programs may be scrapped, basically everything is under review now. Finance/Marketing are the first reviews being done. They are rightly so aligning the ship for the downturn in 2018.

[Joe771476]

From the same story in my paper: I can't understand how Subaru is up like 10 percent and Jeep is up 15 percent. What is Ford and everybody else doing wrong?

[fuzzymoomoo]

No idea for Subaru, but Jeep (and FCA in general) gives very heavy incentives, unless it's the 200 or Dart.

[old_fairmont_wagon]

Subaru is very much in style right now. They have been largely production limited for a while now. For FCA and Subaru, its easier to post gains when your total sales are so low.

[BORG]

Apparently there will be a major product meeting in the next month where full programs may be scrapped, basically everything is under review now. Finance/Marketing are the first reviews being done. They are rightly so aligning the ship for the downturn in 2018.

 

 

This is my understanding as well, everybody is on edge at HQ and that really just started this week with layoffs happening in several departments for the first time in many years. Most have been caught off guard but moods changed with the last earning report which painted a bleak picture. So Ford is moving fast to downsize parts of their business as early as possible.

 

Ford is absolutely hemorrhaging car customers now, far faster than anybody else. They are essentially turning into a Truck and Van company and that dependency is going to grow more significant as they lack Crossover capacity and product diversity to absorb the loss. They will get there eventually but it's going to be ugly until they do. It is frustrating to see how slow and ponderous the company tends to move in its current state.

Edited September 2, 2016 by BORG

[fuzzymoomoo]

 

 

This is my understanding as well, everybody is on edge at HQ and that really just started this week with layoffs happening in several departments for the first time in many years. Most have been caught off guard but moods changed with the last earning report which painted a bleak picture. So Ford is moving fast to downsize parts of their business as early as possible.

 

Ford is absolutely hemorrhaging car customers now, far faster than anybody else. They are essentially turning into a Truck and Van company and that dependency is going to grow more significant as they lack Crossover capacity and product diversity to absorb the loss. They will get there eventually but it's going to be ugly until they do. It is frustrating to see how slow and ponderous the company tends to move in its current state, they are too comfortable with long timetables.

The mood on the floor at MAP was somber at best last night. Most agree with you and are pissed off that Ford is dragging their heels with the Ranger. More and more of us are worried that our jobs will be gone (at lease semi-permanently) by this time next year while Focus sales continue to collapse. De-contenting it for 2017 sure as hell isnt going to help.

[RichardJensen]

 

 

Ford is absolutely hemorrhaging car customers now, far faster than anybody else.

 

Subprime customers are propping up the car market!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you would rather have Ford taking gigantic losses in a couple years when they have to write off all those loans.......................................

Edited September 3, 2016 by RichardJensen

[jpd80]

Autonews report on Ford sales at the LINK,

 

Mark LaNeve, Ford’s vice president for U.S. marketing, sales and service, said the automaker held the line on incentives,

keeping them “almost stone cold flat” despite falling demand for cars. In the past, he said, Ford and its rivals would have

been more aggressive to avoid reporting such a large sales decrease.

 

“We didn’t see any big fluctuations in incentive spend but we did see our business strengthen in the last 10 days,” LaNeve said

on a conference call with analysts and reporters. “We’re certainly using some restraint in accepting some of the segmentation

trends we’re seeing and managing the business in a logical way.”

 

That appears to be a large reason for the Fusion’s poor performance. LaNeve said only 20 percent of the Fusions sold were the

refreshed 2017 version. Dealers are selling down the outgoing model without using huge discounts that could pull buyers away

from a more profitable crossover such as the Edge or Explorer.

 

“We’re not pushing real hard in some of the lease markets where Fusion has historically performed well,” LaNeve said.

Ford said fleet deliveries of all vehicles, including its medium and heavy trucks, were down 10 percent in August, while

retail sales declined 8 percent. Just 21 percent of Ford’s sales were to fleet buyers last month, down from 32 percent

year to date. Ford said deliveries to rental-car companies accounted for 90 percent of the fleet decline.

 

So, a 90% of the reduction in fleet sales was attributed to a reduction in daily rental sales.
something that was planned for and spoken often with regard to heavy front end loading
of fleet sales in the first half od the year..

Ford saw a massive slide on its car sales but instead of arresting it with increased incentives,
it decided to hang tough and didn't chase those sales with incentives, something most
manufacturers would have done in the past.

An example of that is Fusion where 80% of sales last month were out going 2016 models
being sold by dealers with no increase in incentives that usually occur.

If this was reported by GM, lavish praise would have been heard from all corners
but because it's Ford, well we can't have that, so double standard criticism applies.