Ford May sales up 3%; Best May Retail Sales in 10 years

[jpd80]

HOLY CRAP. AVERAGE MSRP ON THE F150 IS $44,000

That's the thing, product mix and lowest incentive spend compared to Ford's three major competitors.

Sometimes maximizing sales is all about increasing everything else too...

Edited June 3, 2014 by jpd80

[atomcat68]

Good month for Ford. Anyone know why the Chevy Cruz sales are so much better than the Focus?

http://autos.jdpower.com/research/Ford/Focus/2014/Sedan/ratings.htm

http://www.cars.com/ford/focus/2013/consumer-reviews/

https://autos.yahoo.com/ford/focus/2014/

http://www.edmunds.com/ford/focus/2013/consumer-reviews.html?sub=sedan&ps=used

 

It's the DCT mainly causing all the problems. These aren't auto mags, they are real people. Of course some are trolls, but every car maker has them. Ford needs to address this now. Word of mouth can be very damaging. The most painful part is go back to the last gen"crappy" Focus and see how happy people were with that car.

[fordmantpw]

HOLY CRAP. AVERAGE MSRP ON THE F150 IS $44,000

 

Transaction price + incentives != (necessarily) MSRP, is it?

 

Say MSRP is 48k. Invoice is 44k. Rebates are 4k. Dealer sells at invoice - rebates, so 40k. MSRP is 48k whereas incentives is only 4k. Right?

 

Or do I understand it wrong? If what I'm thinking is correct, then MSRP would be a couple grand higher than $44k. But I could be completely wrong.

Edited June 3, 2014 by fordmantpw

[akirby]

 

Transaction price + incentives != (necessarily) MSRP, is it?

 

Say MSRP is 48k. Invoice is 44k. Rebates are 4k. Dealer sells at invoice - rebates, so 40k. MSRP is 48k whereas incentives is only 4k. Right?

 

Or do I understand it wrong? If what I'm thinking is correct, then MSRP would be a couple grand higher than $44k. But I could be completely wrong.

 

Correct (as usual). MSRP would be around $48K or higher.

[akirby]

http://m.autoblog.com/photos/ford-edge-concept-la-2013/

 

Try to find any information on the 2015 Edge with the new styling. There are no order guides, no job 1 dates, no dates for the order bank to open. Nothing whatsoever. The longer we go without the order bank dates the less the chance of seeing the new Edge this calendar year. I'm guessing it will be pushed back to Spring 2015.

[fordmantpw]

HOLY CRAP. AVERAGE MSRP ON THE F150 IS $44,000

 

It just dawned on me...it's F-Series, not F150. That makes a lot more sense. An F250 crew cab XLT diesel 4x4 starts at $50k+. That's with no options.

 

 

Correct (as usual). MSRP would be around $48K or higher.

 

When you think about it, that's a lot of income! 700k at $48k average sticker price! Wow! $33.6B!

Edited June 3, 2014 by fordmantpw

[bzcat]

Bell weather midsize sedan sales ranking by model:

1. Camry 49,584
2. Accord 39,637 (including unspecified number of coupes)
3. Altima 36,053 (probably including unspecified number of leftover coupes)
4. Fusion 33,881
5. Sonata 20,404
6. Malibu 19,288
7. Optima 16,843
8. Passat 8,955
9. Avenger 6,055
10. Mazda6 5,461
11. 200 3,140
12. Legacy 3,053 (combined with Outback sales of 11,641, would put it ahead of Passat)
13. Regal 2,396


Picture looks a little different if you evaluate by company/group:

1. Toyota Group (Toyota+Subaru) 52,637
2. Honda 39,637
3. Hyundai-Kia 37,247
4. Nissan 36,053
5. Ford 33,881
6. GM 21,684
7. FCA 9,195
8. VW 8,955
9. Mazda 5,461

[akirby]

49K for Camry? Holy crap! Is that a record?

Edited June 3, 2014 by akirby

[bzcat]

49K for Camry? Holy crap! Is that a record?

 

Probably... I don't recall it ever going over 50k units.

 

Toyota is clearing out the 2014 model with some crazy incentive since the facelift 2015 models are already on the way. Plus there is probably a fair amount of fleet dumping going on there with Camry to make up the numbers and fend off Honda from claiming the sales lead.

Edited June 4, 2014 by bzcat

[bzcat]

Compact CUV battle royale - this is one of the most hotly contested segment with the most entries

Honda CR-V 32,430
Ford Escape 31,896
Toyota RAV-4 23,465
Chevy Equinox* 22,695
Nissan Rouge 18,722 (includes both new and classic)
Jeep Cherokee 15,992
Subaru Forester 14,146
Mazda CX-5 9,291
Dodge Journey* 8,833
GMC Terrain* 8,734
Jeep Compass 8,666
Jeep Patriot 8,242
Hyundai Tuscon 4,482
Kia Sportage 4,009
Mitsubishi Outlander Sport 2,820
VW Tiguan 2,649
Mitsubishi Outlander 1,292

FCA Total 41,733
Toyota Group Total 37,611
GM Total 31,429
Hyundai-Kia Total 8,491

*GM twins and Dodge Journey are midsize CUVs but selling at compact-like price range

Edited June 4, 2014 by bzcat

[bzcat]

Sale of vans... since we now have E-series mafia lurking amongst us

 

Burrito class
Ford E series 14,269
Chevy Express 9,822
GMC Savana 4,124
Mercedes Sprinter 2,264
Nissan NV 1,475
Ram ProMaster 1,033

Taco class
Ford Transit Connect 4,222
Nissan NV200 1,203
Ram C/V 768

Enchilada class
Chrysler T&C 14,799
Dodge Caravan 14,232
Toyota Sienna 13,330
Honda Odyssey 12,915
Ford Flex 2,829
Nissan Quest 1,162
Mazda5 871
Kia Sedona 739
VW Routan 73

[bzcat]

C-segment sales - all C-segments cars (meaning no CUVs) regardless of body style or drivetrain technology

1. Toyota Corolla 36,611
2. Honda Civic 36,089
3. Chevy Cruze 32,393
4. Toyota Prius 26,793 [note: includes B-segment Prius C but Toyota is a bitch and won't breakout - likely means Prius/Prius V only number will probably drop below Focus, Sentra, and Elantra]
5. Ford Focus 23,683
6. Nissan Sentra 21,932
7. Hyundai Elantra 21,867
8. VW Jetta 13,915 [note: includes nonsensically named Jetta SportWagen]
9. Mazda3 10,682
10. Dodge Dart 8,644
11. Kia Forte 7,196
12. Subaru Impreza & WRX 8,616 (5,659+2,957) [note: does not include XV Crosstrek 5,778, if combined, will place it above Jetta]
13. Buick Verano 3,816
14. Nissan Leaf 3,117
15. Ford C-Max 2,833
16. VW Beetle 2,729
17. Audi A3 2,261 [note: top selling premium brand model]
18. VW Golf & GTI 1,793
19. Lexus CT 1,762
20. Chevy Volt 1,684
21. Acura ILX 1,629
22. Scion xB 1,532
23. Mitsubishi Lancer & Evo 1,422
24. Mercedes CLA 1,214
25. BMW 1/2 Series 957
26. Honda Insight 493
27. VW Eos 467
28. Audi TT 189
29. Cadillac ELR 52

[TBirdStangSkyliner]

I can't see how these May numbers are positive for Ford, with the exception of Lincoln being well up. Three percent is paltry when most of the competition was around 15 percent up. In a strong period of automotive sales, Ford is quickly losing market share as their competitors are outpacing their tiny gains by a factor of five. Several of the defunct American car brands had modestly growing years in the post-war time period that saw the big three outpace them several-fold.

[fordmantpw]

I can't see how these May numbers are positive for Ford, with the exception of Lincoln being well up. Three percent is paltry when most of the competition was around 15 percent up. In a strong period of automotive sales, Ford is quickly losing market share as their competitors are outpacing their tiny gains by a factor of five. Several of the defunct American car brands had modestly growing years in the post-war time period that saw the big three outpace them several-fold.

 

It would be interesting to compare the profit / vehicle increase comparison of Ford with the rest. Ford increased retails sales while others increased fleet sales. That increases profit per vehicle. Ford held back on incentives on the F150 to intentionally slow the sales to allow a build up of vehicles prior to the '15 switch over. That increases profit per vehicle. It's not just the total number of sales that matters. It's the big picture.

[TBirdStangSkyliner]

There are a lot of important factors that aren't in these numbers. Profit per unit, what was going on in each company last May, incentives, change in market share, and life cycle stages are some of these. Overall, Ford has been off of the growth of its competitors for a while. I expected some of that once the Japanese supply line was restored post-tsunami, and GM got past receivership woes. We should be past those factors now in comparing to last year.

[chevys]

http://autos.jdpower.com/research/Ford/Focus/2014/Sedan/ratings.htm

http://www.cars.com/ford/focus/2013/consumer-reviews/

https://autos.yahoo.com/ford/focus/2014/

http://www.edmunds.com/ford/focus/2013/consumer-reviews.html?sub=sedan&ps=used

 

It's the DCT mainly causing all the problems. These aren't auto mags, they are real people. Of course some are trolls, but every car maker has them. Ford needs to address this now. Word of mouth can be very damaging. The most painful part is go back to the last gen"crappy" Focus and see how happy people were with that car.

I was going to mention the same thing but it seems like its taboo on this forum. Its a wonder it sells as well as it does. As far as I am concerned the DCT ranks right up there with MFT in terms of a massive screw up.

[BrewfanGRB]

I can't see how these May numbers are positive for Ford, with the exception of Lincoln being well up. Three percent is paltry when most of the competition was around 15 percent up. In a strong period of automotive sales, Ford is quickly losing market share as their competitors are outpacing their tiny gains by a factor of five. Several of the defunct American car brands had modestly growing years in the post-war time period that saw the big three outpace them several-fold.

 

*Sigh* Here we go...

[RichardJensen]

Ford has been off of the growth of its competitors for a while

 

Ford is capacity constrained. Therefore, they have been reducing sales of rental vehicles, which has the effect of increasing profit per unit.

 

Ford is still, easily, the most profitable and the most healthy "US" manufacturer, and their margins are sufficient to sustain future development and set aside capital reserves to smooth out the next downturn.

[jpd80]

I wonder how many potential Focus buyers actually wind up buying either Escape or Fusion,

wouldn't surprise in the least to think a lot of people change their mind after a short drive...

[MKII]

There are a lot of important factors that aren't in these numbers. Profit per unit, what was going on in each company last May, incentives, change in market share, and life cycle stages are some of these. Overall, Ford has been off of the growth of its competitors for a while. I expected some of that once the Japanese supply line was restored post-tsunami, and GM got past receivership woes. We should be past those factors now in comparing to last year.

Brand highest volume - May Ford Motor Co.244,501

Brand highest volume - 5 mos. Ford 1,006,710

 

Brand lost the most volume - May Chrysler(6,478)

Brand lost the most volume - 5 mos. Chrysler(19,548)

[jpd80]

It's one thing to point at incentives an simply assume money lost but when you have $4,000 incentives on 68,000 vehicles

all with $40,000 ATP, the result is pretty damned impressive. Now repeat that methodology throughout the rest of Ford's products

and it's no wonder why Ford North America has impressive returns..

Edited June 4, 2014 by jpd80

[Anthony]

Brand lost the most volume - May Chrysler(6,478)

Brand lost the most volume - 5 mos. Chrysler(19,548)

Numbers don't tell the whole story in this case. This is all based on the production of the 200 being stopped a few months ago in preparation for the next generation (which is just starting to reach dealers). Remember Chrysler sells only 3 vehicles as a brand right now. Removing one of them will drastically effect sales as a whole.

[silvrsvt]

Numbers don't tell the whole story in this case. This is all based on the production of the 200 being stopped a few months ago in preparation for the next generation (which is just starting to reach dealers). Remember Chrysler sells only 3 vehicles as a brand right now. Removing one of them will drastically effect sales as a whole.

 

But it also helps explain why using percentages aren't the whole story either. 16% looks impressive over 3%, but when you dig deeper it really isnt.

[akirby]

You can't make judgements looking just at year over year percentages. There are far too many variables at play.

 

When is it not good to maintain market share? When your competition is taking share with fleet dumping and/or big incentives. Why? Because those are "pull ahead" sales that will only result in a temporary market share gain (with less profit to boot) which will eventually self-correct itself.

 

Toyota cannot continue to sell 49K camrys every month.

 

It's difficult to increase market share and maintain profit margins when your costs are pretty much under control and your factories are well utilized because the cost to get the additional market share involves significant investment in new factories and new products.

 

Looking only at market share by sales volume is silly. GM was #1 and went bankrupt and that's all you should need to know.

[akirby]

 

But it also helps explain why using percentages aren't the whole story either. 16% looks impressive over 3%, but when you dig deeper it really isnt.

 

Would you rather have 3% of $1M or 16% of $100K?