August Sales: Retail +21%, overall +17%

[Mark8LSC CE0464]

Read the whole press release please. Taurus production is still ramping up and many dealers haven't even seen their first one yet. Early sales are encouraging. In Metro Detroit, they are sold as they hit dealer lots. I doubt if 5,000 have even been shipped yet let alone sold. Look for sales to increase every month out as production increases and more are shipped. The new Taurus is getting attention and is no wallflower like previous one.

 

What's amazing about Ford's August sales is how just about every vehicle across the board did well, especially the F-150, Edge, and Ranger. I expected the Fusion, Escape, and Focus to do well of course, but F-150 sales were up year over year and even the Edge joined in and did well. Very impressive.

 

You are right, nowhere near 5,000 have been built yet. My SHO is scheduled to be built the week of Sept 21st, with a VIN indicating that it will be the 3,899th Taurus produced thus far.

[Mark B. Morrow]

Well I guess they aren't high fivin' right now...

 

Now for Yoda...

 

 

Pontiac, GMs star performer...oh, nevermind.

 

I saw a stat somewhere last night, that there are only about 16,000 Pontiacs left to sell.

[Extreme4x4]

Toyota's poor sales performance, most of the year, put them in an excellent position to benefit from C4C. They had huge numbers of cars on the lots, and on storage lots.

 

This is in contrast to Ford, GM, and Chrysler, all of whom had poor inventory to begin with. That Ford was able to take advantage of C4C, as much as they did, is a miracle.

 

This is evidenced by their 36 days worth of inventory.

[mustang_sallad]

Sept is going to be brutal for Toyota...

 

why do you say that? Did they sell a lot last september and this sept will just look bad in comparison?

[RichardJensen]

why do you say that? Did they sell a lot last september and this sept will just look bad in comparison?

Toyota was the big winner in C4C and Sept. is expected to be the 'payback' month for all that volume.

[rmc523]

Toyota was the big winner in C4C and Sept. is expected to be the 'payback' month for all that volume.

 

Yeah, I'm thinking that's gonna happen as well.

 

-----

 

And :happy feet: for Ford sales!!!

 

Transit Connect looks like it's off to a good start!

 

Glad to see Edge sales picked up, but I have to wonder how much of that is fleet - either way the redesign can't come quickly enough, IMO. I see a TON of them though, they're like every other car down here.

[630land]

The Pontiacs they are unloading are just rebadged Chevys! G5, G3, G6. Parents are snapping them up for HS grads.

G8 is not making a dent, only 1500 sold in Aug. Not enough to 'save them'.

 

When the Fiesta comes out, how much will Focus go down?

Edited September 1, 2009 by 630land

[rmc523]

When the Fiesta comes out, how much will Focus go down?

 

That'll be interesting to see, but Ford will have a new Focus coming shortly after Fiesta's launch, so....

[630land]

Ford will then be back to where they were in 80's and 90s. Fiesta will be size of 91 Escort, and Focus is compact Tempo size, etc...

[snooter]

good news..BUT...the gain rests squarely on the C4C..`too bad dealers were ass raped in the whole deal..but i guess who in detroit really cares..car dealers are all rich anyhow

[shllshck]

Ouch.

 

Silverado and Sierra models are both down more than 40% That's pretty significant considering F-series sales are actually up 13%

 

They have a few bright spots (Aveo sales are waaaay up) and Pontiac sales are up, but GM looks to be in a world of hurt. When their best performance comes from the division they are closing, you know they have problems. They look as bad and Ford looks good.

F-series - 45,590 +12.8% (Outsold Silverado + Sierra)

Silverado - 32,421 -41.9%

Ram - 17,514 -29.9%

Sierra - 11,657 -42.6%

Tundra - 7,872 -54.8%

Titan - 1,534 -73.9%

 

Very impressive. The rest of the pickup competition got creamed while the F-series posted a double digit gain.

[shllshck]

Good grief.....

 

Camry 54,396

Corolla 43,061

Accord 39,726

 

Ford's making headway but good lord.

You forgot the ridiculous numbers of

Civic - 43,294 (outsold Corolla)

CR-V - 30,284

 

Fusion, Focus, and Escape still have a long ways to go to get to those stratespheric numbers. Even Altima posted like 26,833.

[smok]

You forgot the ridiculous numbers of

Civic - 43,294 (outsold Corolla)

CR-V - 30,284

 

Fusion, Focus, and Escape still have a long ways to go to get to those stratespheric numbers. Even Altima posted like 26,833.

 

Well, the great sales of civics, corollas, accords, camrys, crvs was probably expected. These are great products, proven over many generations and have loyal customers. With the c4c, these vehicles are a real good deal.

I was also looking at the Equinox sales, which almost tripled its sales from last year. I think it will give the escape some competition.

[silvrsvt]

I was also looking at the Equinox sales, which almost tripled its sales from last year. I think it will give the escape some competition.

 

From what I've seen of the Equinox, its really an Edge Competetor not an Escape, its a big friggin "small CUV" I had a Sienna minivan parked next to it and it was roughly the same size. The Escape is smaller then the Equinox.

[Project-Fairmont]

I see the insipid and fat Cheebie Traverse pulled in 11,465 for the month. Not surprising, I see alot of these homely and safe bet for the unimaginative who don't know what to think of the Flex...

 

Also the Trailblazer was at 11k last year now down to 300ish units - clearly the Traverse has all but replaced the TB. You also have to wonder why GM would dump Pontiac when Buick, is in the tank...8.6K units down 51.7% v. Pontiac 29.9k units up 23% over last year. My God Mercury sold more units than Buick!

 

Ford is also ahead of Chevy YTD.

Edited September 2, 2009 by Project-Fairmont

[saintlaz1]

glad to see Mercury coming back a bit, i know its not supposed to be the volume brand anymore but the numbers say otherwise today.

[grbeck]

Pontiac, GMs star performer...oh, nevermind.

 

I saw a stat somewhere last night, that there are only about 16,000 Pontiacs left to sell.

 

Park any new Pontiac - aside from the G8 - next to a 1959 Bonneville, 1963 Grand Prix or 1968 GTO, and you will realize that the decision to put down Pontiac was really a mercy killing.

[mustangman9494]

nice to see the venerable ranger doing so well again. just think how well a newly freshened ranger would sell, why ford forgot this truck is a absolute shame. my 98 with 210,000 miles is as strong as it ever was!!!!. thinking of buying a new one and would sure like to see a fresh faced ranger!!!!!!

[grbeck]

Toyota was the big winner in C4C and Sept. is expected to be the 'payback' month for all that volume.

 

Remember, though, that sales hadn't yet collapsed last August for Toyota (and Honda). They were still riding on good sales of their more fuel-efficient vehicles. It didn't really hit the fan for the whole car market until September 2008, if I recall correctly, when Wall Street started to collapse.

 

If sales were up in August for those two, when last August wasn't too bad - that is a pretty good achievement.

[armadamaster]

Only 624 Grand Marquis were sold in August. Those "loyal BOF/V8 customers" sure are helping sales and profits aren't they????

 

Panthers weren't available under C4C.

[Ford Jellymoulds]

Old GM-New GM-OLD GM Lutz brings back the boring shaped G8 to save GM, bring on the Volt Bob its not working.

 

GM Pontiac Chevy G8 1521 sales down -17%

 

Please please GM, keep "Tony" car loving Lutz away from the good ole Classic Chevy Silverado pick-up, l don't wanna see him bugger it up because it's all thats propping up GM in the US.

Edited September 2, 2009 by Ford Jellymoulds

[old_fairmont_wagon]

With no significant improvements to the F-150 since the new body style was introduced over half a year ago, how did the F-150 post such good numbers for this month? I know that the comparisson to last years numbers were facing a depressed truck market due to hangover from the high fuel prices, so that explains the overall percentage gain. How did it manage to outsell the Silverado and Sierra together as its been a long time since that has been a regular occurance. Looking at some of the differences, Silverado and Sierra offer bigger engines (in certain models) and better gas mileage (also in only certian models). How does the F-150 continue to outcompete GM in this area? Is it perhaps negative perception of GM over the bankruptcy?

[old_fairmont_wagon]

Good grief.....

 

Camry 54,396

Corolla 43,061

Accord 39,726

 

Ford's making headway but good lord.

 

Well, lets look at those numbers...

 

Camry's 54,396 is an adjusted anual sales rate of ~650,000 units, or about twice the number of units that Hermisillo can produce of CD3 cars on its own.

Corolla's 43,061 is an adjusted anual sales rate of ~ 515,000 units, or about 66% more than the current US. Focus production facilities can produce per year.

Accord's 39,726 is an adjusted anual sales rate of ~ 475,000 units, or about 50% more than hermisillo can output of CD3 cars.

 

At this point, we know that these numbers are somewhat inflated by C4C funds, but, if these rates are maintained, Fusion and Focus will never catch them. As long as CD3 car numbers are hanging out at around 29,000+ per month (This assumes a total plant capacity of 350,000 units per year, that may not be an accurate number), then the plant is running near capacity and is making a profit. I wouldn't expect Ford to make any move to increase CD3 capacity any time soon, at least not until the unification with Mondeo and we see how the market takes to that product.

[Ford Jellymoulds]

Good grief.....

 

Camry 54,396

Corolla 43,061

Accord 39,726

 

Ford's making headway but good lord.

 

It's a scandal they should have never been allowed in the US C4C program.

 

Chrysler, Ford, & GM continue to get shafted reamed up the arse by 127.77 MILLION Japanese consumers every month with just 632 Big 3 sales in Japan last month it stinks they are taking the piss.

Edited September 2, 2009 by Ford Jellymoulds

[Ford Jellymoulds]

Well, lets look at those numbers...

 

I wouldn't expect Ford to make any move to increase CD3 capacity any time soon, at least not until the unification with Mondeo and we see how the market takes to that product.

 

Don't expect to many miricles old man from the Mondeo it can't punch its way out of a paper bag salewise in Europe its struggling to sell 8,000 a month in Europe.

 

Aussie Falcon would be a much better option.

 

How did the Mercury Mystique do in the US saleswise just interested, did its superb handling knock ten balls of shit out of Camry sales a car that handles & wallows around like wobbly drunken old pig on corners?

 

If all family sedans look the same, all have the warmth of a cold styled appliance/fridge, folk have no choice but to buy one, and in a silent protest buy Toyonda's fridges.

 

Chyslers, Ford & GM cars are just has reliable if not a lot better than Toyonda's, there should be no reason for Americans to to buy them, can't say l ever see piles of big 3 stuck broken down on the side of the road these days, all cars are reliable so why do they buy Toyonda's. Its got to be down to cold appliance like styling. Pick-ups, vans, SUV's have not lost mojo and are more boxy classic styled by default, and Japs have no answer to them, what was the last Jap coupe that outsold a Mustang or Craparo class coupe they have got no answers to it.

 

Big three should get back to making classic warm feeling family sedans/stationwagons. If Ford offered something RWD like an old Cortina called it the Mondeo and gave it the same shape as an old classic Mercedes 190 that had a warm feel to it, l would buy one be driving it today. Cold boring dull silly looking jello space wasting shaped roof of Mondeo sedan puts me right off it. Mondeo stationwagons are OK but even that slope downwards like the draughtmans rule slipped downward at the backend what a shame. Ford's ole boxy early 80's UK Granada had acres of practical space how l would have loved one today, it jello shaped Scopio that replaced it finished Fords flagship range car off for good due to poor sales.

Edited September 2, 2009 by Ford Jellymoulds