Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) on Tuesday reported a U.S. sales increase of 8% year over year in December, to 239,242 Ford and Lincoln vehicles, compared with December 2014 sales of 220,671. Truck sales rose 13% for the month, on top of an 18.3% increase in November. The company said that the month’s sales were the best December since 2003.
For 2015, Ford and Lincoln sales totaled 2.61 million vehicles, up 5%, and the best annual sales performance in nine years.
Total sales compare to an estimate of 244,000 by analysts at Kelley Blue Book (KBB). The industry research firm also reported that Ford’s average transaction price in November was $37,061, down 0.1% month over month, and up 2.1% compared with December of last year. KBB transaction prices do not include applied consumer incentives.
Sales of the Ford F-Series pickups rose by 15% in December to 85,211. In November, Ford sold 65,192 F-Series trucks, following an October sales total of 65,500. Sales for the year rose 3.5% for the F-Series pickups, and December sales of the F-Series topped 85,000 for the first time in 10 years.
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Truck sales comprised about 47% of all Ford sales in December, and the F-Series pickups accounted for about 37% of total sales in December. For the year, F-Series sales rose 3.5%, and the F-Series accounted for 31% of Ford brand sales.
Ford’s Escape small sport utility vehicle (SUV) saw a year-over-year sales increase of 9.2% in December, reversing a drop of 18.5% in November. Sales of the all-new Transit and Transit Connect totaled 17,827 units in December, up 29% year over year.
Sales of the Lincoln brand rose 12.1% year over year in December as sales of Lincoln utility vehicles rose by 17.2%. Car sales totaled 3,678 units in the month, and utility vehicle sales totaled 7,182 units. For the year, Lincoln car sales are down 10.4% and utility sales are up 21.3%.
The stock traded down about 2.5% Tuesday morning, at $13.61 in a 52-week range of $10.44 to $16.74.
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