Ford September Auto Sales Live Up to Weak Expectations

Cars and Drivers

Published: October 1, 2014 11:10 am

Last Updated: April 27, 2020 9:38 pm

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) on Wednesday posted a U.S. sales decline of 3% year-over-year in September, to 180,175 Ford and Lincoln vehicles, compared with September 2013 sales of 185,146. Sales of the company’s best-selling Fusion rose 8.6% and sales of the Lincoln brand rose 12.5%. The full-size Explorer SUV saw sales rise 0.8%. Sales of the F-Series pickups slipped another 1% again in September as buyers await the all-new F-Series due out by the end of this year.

The analysts at Kelley Blue Book forecast Ford’s September sales at 180,000 vehicles, and Edmunds.com projected the month’s sales at just over 177,000, down nearly 20% month-over-month.

Ford truck sales have fallen 2.5% year-over-over for the first nine months of 2014 as the company prepares to introduce its widely anticipated aluminum-body F-150 Series pickup trucks in the fourth quarter. The aluminum body panels and other technology improvements have cut the weight of the trucks by about 700 pounds, which will help improve fuel economy.

Ford has offered incentives to move its current F-150 inventory as it ramps up production of the all-new truck. That has cost the company margin and the stock was battered late Monday after the company reined in its profit expectations, largely due to rotten sales in Russia and Europe. Pickup truck sales in the United States could have helped staunch the bleeding, but getting customers to buy the current model when the new one is on the way is a profit-killer.

Ford’s shares were trading lower by about 1.5% Wednesday morning at $14.57, in a 52-week range of $14.40 to $18.12.

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