Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) on Friday reported a U.S. sales increase of 8% year over year in March, to 254,711 Ford and Lincoln vehicles, compared with March 2015 sales of 235,929. Truck sales rose 11.4% for the month, and sales of F Series pickups rose by more than 9%.
Total sales compare to an estimate of 256,194 by analysts at Edmunds.com. Kelley Blue Book also reported that Ford’s average transaction price in March was $36,444, up 0.3% month over month, and up 2.6% compared with March of last year. KBB transaction prices do not include applied consumer incentives.
Sales of the Ford F-Series pickups rose 9.1% in March to 73,884. In February Ford sold 60,697 F-Series trucks following a January sales total of 50,540. Ford noted that this is the earliest month since 2007 for the F-Series to sell more than 70,000 units.
Truck sales comprised about 39% of all Ford sales in March, and the F-Series pickups accounted for about 29% of total sales in March. Both totals are a few points above the February percentages.
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Where Ford saw its biggest sales boost for the month in sport utility vehicle (SUV) sales, which rose 16% year over year. Escape sales rose 8.4% and Explorer sales were up 4%. The Expedition saw a sales decrease of 0.8%. Sales of Ford utility vehicles, including SUVs but not pickups, are up 13% year over year.
Sales of the all-new Transit and Transit Connect totaled 18,514 units in March, up 52.8% and down 25.6%, respectively, year over year. For the quarter, Transit sales were up 57.4% and Transit Connect sales were down 11.3%.
Sales of the Lincoln brand rose 11.4% year over year in March, as sales of Lincoln utility vehicles rose by 28.2%. Car sales totaled 3,261 units in the month and utility vehicle sales totaled 6,428 units. Car sales fell 11.4% year over year.
The stock traded down about 2.5% Friday morning, at $13.15 in a 52-week range of $10.44 to $16.11.
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