Ford September Sales Dip Less Than Expected

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) on Monday reported a U.S. sales decrease of 7.7% year-over-year in September, to 204,447 Ford and Lincoln vehicles, compared with September 2015 sales of 221,599. Truck sales fell 8.1% for the month, and sales of F Series pickups fell 2.6%.

Total sales compare to an estimate of more than 202,000 by analysts at Edmunds.com. Kelley Blue Book (KBB) estimated Ford’s September sales at 202,000 at an average transaction price of $38,095, down 0.5% month-over-month, and up 3.2% compared with September of last year. KBB transaction prices do not include applied consumer incentives.

The good news for Ford is that it did not perform as poorly as analysts expected, and the company did manage to slow the decline in sales of its F-Series pickups.

Sales of the Ford F-Series pickups fell 2.6% in September to 67,809 units. In August, Ford sold 66,946 F-Series trucks following a July sales total of 65,657. For the first nine months of 2016, F-Series pickup sales are up 5.5% year over year.

Truck sales comprised more than 42% of all Ford sales in September, and the F-Series pickups accounted for more than 33% of total September sales.

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Sales of the company’s sport utility vehicles (SUVs) posted a year-over-year decline of 3.2% in September, although sales are up 4.3% for the year to date.

Edge sales increased 0.6% in the month and are now 7.7% higher year to date. The Expedition saw a sales increase of 72.9% compared with September of 2015, and year-to-date Expedition sales are up 49.2%. Explorer sales fell 12.3% for the month and are down 4.4% year to date.

Sales of the Transit utility van totaled 10,799 units in September, up 6.4% compared with September 2015 and up 30.8% year to date to a total of 112,607 units

Sales of the Lincoln brand rose 1.3% year over year in September as sales of Lincoln cars jumped 15.6% on the introduction of the new Lincoln Continental. Car sales totaled 3,461 units in the month and utility vehicle sales totaled 5,336 units. SUV sales slipped 6.2% year over year in September, but are up 15.1% for the year to date.

Ford’s stock traded down about 0.2% shortly after Monday’s opening bell, at $12.05 in a 52-week range of $11.02 to $15.84.

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