Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) on Wednesday posted a U.S. sales decline of 3.4% in March, to 235,929 Ford and Lincoln vehicles, compared with March 2014 sales of 244,167 in the year-ago period. Sales of most of the company’s best-selling vehicles fell in the month, with the exceptions of the full-size Explorer sport utility vehicle (SUV) and the Mustang, which saw sales increases of 17% and 36%, respectively.

Total sales compare to estimates of 230,339 units from Edmunds and 234,000 from Kelley Blue Book. About the only good thing to say about Ford’s sales in March is that they weren’t as poor as expected.

Sales of the all-new Ford F-Series pickups declined by 4.6% in March to 67,706 units, and sales are up just 2.3% year-to-date. The company said that retail sales of the pickups rose 10% in March.

Ford noted that it is prioritizing retail sales at the expense of fleet sales. March retail sales rose 1% on all models while fleet sales were down 13%.

This is the second month in a row in which pickup truck sales at both Ford and Chrysler have faltered. Truck sales comprise 38% of all Ford company sales and the F-Series pickups account for 29% of total sales. Ford cannot afford to fumble pickup truck sales.

Focus sales fell by 14.5% to 20,497 units and Fusion sales were off 11.9% at 29,044 units.

Ford’s Escape small SUV saw a sales drop of 8.4% year-over-year, as utilities sales fell by 3.9%. Car sales fell by 10.6% and truck sales, including the Transit vans, rose 3.8%. However, if we exclude the Transit van, which was not available last year, truck sales are well below last March’s level.

The stock traded down about 1.5% mid-morning Wednesday, at $15.91 in a 52-week range of $13.26 to $18.12.

ALSO READ: Falling Pickup Sales Tamp Down March Sales at Chrysler

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