Ford sales continue down wrong road
Written on November 4, 2008
Ford Motor Co. sales in October were down more than 30 percent over October 2007.
The auto maker, which operates a transmission plant in Sharonville, sold 132,838 new vehicles in North America in October, down 30.2 percent from 190,195 a year ago.
In a news release, Ford officials attributed the sales decline to “an economic gauntlet, the likes of which haven’t been seen in more than two decades.”
Even small vehicles, which had showed sales gains in previous months when truck and sport utility vehicle sales were down, lost sales in October.
Sales of the Focus compact car, which had been strong for much of the year, were down 18.2 percent year-over-year, to 10,576 units from 12,934.
Sales of the Edge crossover also fell off sharply, to 5,951 units from 14,133 a year ago. Sales of the Escape small SUV declined to 9,886 units from 12,174 a year ago.
Sales of the Explorer SUV, made at Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant, continued to fall off in October. Ford sold 3,991 Explorers, down 59.2 percent from the year-earlier period, when the Dearborn, Mich cash loans with bad credit.-based automaker sold 9,786 units. Ford sold 430 units of the Explorer’s cousin, the Mercury Mountaineer, down from 1,655 a year ago.
F-Series pickups, including the Super Duty trucks made at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville also declined in October. Ford sold 43,324 F-Series units in October, down 16.3 percent from October 2007, when it sold 51,741 units.
The Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator vehicles, which are slated to be made at the Kentucky Truck Plant late next spring, also continued to lose year-over-year sales.
Ford sold 3,647 Expedition units in October, down 38.5 percent from a year ago, when it sold 5,931. It sold 1,034 Navigator units, down 56.1 percent from a year ago, when it sold 2,358.
Ford (NYSE: F) is expected to announce another large loss Friday when it releases its third-quarter earnings.
Thomson Financial analysts predict a loss of 93 cents per share on revenue of $28 billion.
Filed in: technology.