Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) has pinned a lot of its hopes for a good sales year on the all-new F-Series pickup. But February sales of the new trucks didn’t live up to those hopes, dropping 1.2% compared with February 2014 pickup sales.
Even though the F-Series continues to outsell the full-size pickups from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE: FCAU) and General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), at some point sales of the new aluminum-body Ford trucks have to set sail. In February Ford sold 55,236 F-Series pickups compared with 45,395 Chevy Silverado trucks, 15,157 GMC pickups, and 31,298 Ram trucks.
But Ford’s sales were down 1.2% year-over-year for the month while Silverado was up 24.1%, Sierra was up 6.5%, and Ram was up 7%. Kelley Blue Book’s senior analyst Michelle Krebs nailed it:
Ford sales disappointed in February, particularly in what should have been an easier year-over-year comparison. Ford got a pass last year because of the transition from the old to the new F-150, but it won’t get that same pass this year. Ford will come under increasing scrutiny if sales don’t pick up soon.
February sales overall were below expectations perhaps due to cold weather, especially in the last week and weekend of the month. Ram pickup sales managed only a single-digit gain year-over-year. GM had a strong month, however, with total sales of 60,552 pickups for its Silverado and Sierra models, a rise of around 19% combined.
Shares of both Ford and Chrysler are down in mid-afternoon trading Tuesday, while GM stock is up. Chrysler shares traded down the most, 3.2%, at around $15.33. The stock’s 52-wee range is $8.54 to $15.85.
Ford shares traded down about 2.4% at $16.17 in a 52-week range of $13.26 to $18.12.
GM shares traded about 0.1% higher at $37.66 in a 52-week range of $28.82 to $38.18.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks