Ford Motor July U.S. Sales Increase 10%

(RTTNews) - Automaker Ford Motor Co. (F) reported Tuesday that U.S. vehicles sales for the month of July increased 9.6 percent from last year to the best July performance in eight years, boosted by double-digit sales growth for Lincoln brand vehicles. Results also reflected strong sales growth for F-Series pick-up truck, Fusion passenger car as well as Ford Explorer and Ford Escape utilities.

Sales for passenger cars, utility vehicles and trucks improved year-over-year. Retail sales also grew 7 percent.

"July proved to be a very good month for Ford and Lincoln with positive gains across the board in all the major segments. Escape and Fusion were big contributors to our sales increases, with both setting July sales records," said John Felice, vice president of U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service.

Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford, the second largest U.S. automaker, said it sold 212,236 vehicles in the U.S. in July, up 9.6 percent from 193,715 vehicles sold in the same month last year. Retail sales grew 7 percent to 162,028 vehicles from a year ago.

Meanwhile, General Motors Co. (GM), the largest U.S. Automaker, reported a 9.4 percent growth in U.S. vehicle sales for the month of July to 256,160 units from the prior year month. Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler Group LLC, the third-largest U.S. automaker owned by Italy-based Fiat SpA (FIATY), also reported a 20 percent increase in total U.S. sales for July to 167,667 units from last year.

Sales of Ford brand vehicles increased 9.4 percent to 204,373 units, and sales of Lincoln brand vehicles grew 13.6 percent to 7,863 units from last year, its best July result in six years, with sales of Lincoln utility vehicles surging 48.3 percent.

Ford passenger car sales rose 6.4 percent year-over-year to 68,702 units in July, and truck sales grew 6.6 percent to 78,583 units from last year. Ford utility vehicle sales also improved 17.1 percent to 64,951 units from a year ago.

Ford brand sales were led by truck sales, with sales of Ford's F-Series pick-up truck, America's best-selling truck for 35 years in a row and America's best-selling vehicle, car or truck, for 30 straight years, growing 4.6 percent to 63,240 units in July, topping the 60,000-vehicle mark again.

"F-Series again topped the 60,000-vehicle sales mark and we're seeing great initial demand for our launch vehicles, such as the Transit Connect, Transit Connect Wagon and the Lincoln MKC as availability builds," Felice added.

Ford small car sales also grew, with the fuel-efficient Ford Fusion sales improving 16.7 percent to set an all-time monthly record since it was introduced in 2005, Ford Focus increasing 5.7 percent, and Ford Mustang sales growing 13.8 percent. Police Interceptor Sedan sales also grew 15.2 percent from last year.

Meanwhile, July sales of Ford Fiesta decreased 1.6 percent, and Ford Taurus sales dropped 12.3 percent from last year. C-MAX sales also plunged 10.9 percent.

Ford utility vehicle sales improved from last year, with Ford Explorer sales growing 31.8 percent to its best July since 2005, and Ford Escape sales rising 18.8 percent to its best ever July performance. Ford Expedition sales also surged 59.3 percent and Ford Police Interceptor sales soared 64.0 percent from last year.

Meanwhile, Ford Edge sales declined 18.8 percent and Ford Flex sales decreased 29.5 percent from last year.

For the year-to-date seven-month period, Ford's U.S. vehicles sales edged down 0.3 percent to 1.482 million units from 1.487 million units in the same period last year, with Ford brand vehicle sales decreasing 0.8 percent, while Lincoln brand vehicle sales grew 15.9 percent.

In Friday's regular trading session, F is currently trading at $16.91, down $0.11 or 0.65% on a volume of 8.93 million shares.