Ford U.S. Sales Rise 12% In August

(RTTNews) - Automaker Ford Motor Co. (F) reported Wednesday that U.S. vehicles sales for the month of August increased 12 percent from last year, boosted by double-digit sales growth for cars and trucks. This is Ford's best August sales results since 2006. Meanwhile, sales for utility vehicles edged down 0.2 percent.

Ford also reported a 20 percent growth in U.S. retail sales, with car sales growing 15 percent, utility vehicle sales rising 16 percent and trucks sales improving 30 percent. Ford continued to see strong growth in the coastal regions.

"Small cars and hybrids continue to outpace the market in the coastal regions of the U.S., with Ford brand retail small car sales growing at more than three times the rate of the U.S. small car industry," said Ken Czubay, vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service.

Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford, the second largest U.S. automaker, said it sold 221,270 vehicles in the U.S. in August, up 12.2 percent from 197,249 vehicles sold in the same month last year. For July, Ford had reported a 11.4 percent growth in U.S. vehicles sales.

Meanwhile, General Motors Co. (GM), the largest U.S. Automaker, reported a 14.7 percent increase in U.S. vehicle sales to 275,847 units from the prior year month. Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler Group LLC, which is majority owned by Italy-based Fiat SpA (FIATY), reported total U.S. sales of 165,552 units, up 12 percent from 148,472 units sold in August 2012.

Sales of Ford brand vehicles increased 12.7 percent to 213,078 units, and sales of Lincoln brand vehicles edged up 0.6 percent to 8,192 units from last year, with the all-new Lincoln MKZ posting its best-ever August sales.

Ford brand vehicle sales increased across the lineup, with passenger car sales rising 18.2 percent year-over-year to 68,844 units in August, and truck sales growing 18.4 percent to 84,537 units from last year. Utility vehicle sales also edged up 0.3 percent to 59,697 units from a year ago.

Ford brand sales were led by small cars, including Fiesta, Focus and C-MAX, which rose 30 percent to 30,148 vehicles from last year, with Fiesta sales increasing 61 percent to the best ever August Fiesta sales.

August sales of Ford's small car Focus grew 6.8 percent to 20,372 vehicles, and Taurus sales increased 26.1 percent to 6,836 vehicles from last year. Sales of another fuel-efficient small car Fusion increased 13.7 percent to achieve August sales record of 24,653 vehicles, while Mustang sales decreased 8.2 percent to 5,866 units from last year. Police Interceptor Sedan sales grew 4 percent, and C-MAX hybrid car sales were 3,032 vehicles.

"Producing more Fusions at Flat Rock Assembly with its 1,400 new workers is a welcome opportunity, as Fusion showed great strength in August," Czubay added.

Among the utility vehicles, Ford Explorer sales jumped 7.4 percent and Ford Flex sales edged up 0.2 percent in August. Police Interceptor utility vehicle sales more than doubled. Meanwhile, Ford Escape saw a 5.2 percent decline in sales, Ford Edge sales edged down 0.6 percent, and Ford Expedition sales decreased 1.3 percent from last year.

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, grew 22.2 percent to 71,115 units in August, topping the 70,000 vehicle mark for the second time in 2013.

For the year-to-date eight-month period, Ford's U.S. vehicles sales increased 12.8 percent to 1.71 million units from 1.51 million units in the same period last year.

Looking ahead, Ford announced that it will produce 785,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, up 7 percent or 50,000 vehicles from the year-ago quarter. However, production of 740,000 vehicles for the third quarter remains unchanged from previous guidance.

In Wednesday's regular trading session, F is currently trading at $16.89, up $0.55 or 3.37% on a volume of 30.59 million shares.