Ford February 2016 Sales up 20%, Best February in 11 years

[PREMiERdrum]

 

That would approximately coincide with the start of production of the 2019 Explorer on CD6, and the elimination of the D4 platform. Isn't the rumor that the next gen Explorer will be a '19 model?

Bingo.

[akirby]

Bingo.

 

RWD or FWD? :stirpot:

[PREMiERdrum]

 

RWD or FWD? :stirpot:

Pot = stirred.

[akirby]

The job 1 date was always May 2015 so June 2015 delivery is about right. But I thought they built up the 2014 inventory at the end of 2014 to handle the down time. I could be wrong.

[bzcat]

According to Automotive News, sales of Ford vehicles to rental fleet customers nearly doubled in February 2016 compared to February 2015.

 

Moreover, Ford outsold General Motors by more than a factor of two in this fleet segment! It's been a while since that last occurred.

 

 

 

 

Ford’s jump in fleet sales is only temporary, based on the timing of orders as well as when the company had capacity to build enough vehicles to fill those orders, said Mark LaNeve, Ford’s vice president for U.S. marketing, sales and service.

“This year it’s just front loaded,” LaNeve said on a conference call with analysts and reporters. “When we get to the end of the year and add it all up, the rental volume for us will look very similar to 2015.”

 

I'll take Mark's word for it... looks like they resumed rental sales on Focus and Taurus. Plus I guess there maybe some heavy fleet allocation of the outgoing 2016 Fusion.

 

GM's "planned reduction" in rental delivery is probably related to timing of 2017 model year production for Malibu Limited and Cruze Limited. Just a guess.

[Pinto'77]

The Focus are selling like McDonalds hotcakes even with gas below $2. Up 33% over last year. The rumors are flying about bringing back c-crew to MAP to keep up with the demand. Wow!!

Edited March 1, 2016 by Pinto'77

[fuzzymoomoo]

The Focus are selling like McDonalds hotcakes even with gas below $2. The rumors are flying about bringing back c-crew to MAP. Wow!!

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

 

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

 

HAHAHA!!

 

Oh that's funny. Thanks, I needed that!

[Pinto'77]

You're welcome.

[jpd80]

Good to see Flex came back to life with +2300 sales last month, I wonder what was behind that...

 

If Flex and MKT are staying for a couple of years, that might point to MKT getting the new front end treatment,

interesting if true....

[Biker16]

The Focus are selling like McDonalds hotcakes even with gas below $2. Up 33% over last year. The rumors are flying about bringing back c-crew to MAP to keep up with the demand. Wow!!

 

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

 

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

 

HAHAHA!!

 

Oh that's funny. Thanks, I needed that!

 

You're welcome.

 

:D

[Biker16]

interesting read here

 

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2016/03/01/202992-automakers-to-see-44-billion-revenue-solid-new-vehicle-sales.html

 

incentive spending is up

[akirby]

Wow - look at the incentives at FCA and GM compared to Ford, especially as a percentage of ATP.

 

Surprised that GM ATPs are higher than Ford - must be the big SUVs, trucks and expensive Caddys.

Edited March 2, 2016 by akirby

[grbeck]

I wonder what incentives are needed to move those Cadillacs (aside from the Escalade). They aren't exactly hot commodities on the market.

[ZanatWork]

I find it very interesting that the MKX outsells the MKZ and the MKC. I had kind of expected the MKC to take over as the dominant Lincoln due to recent trends and pricing.

However, I also have suspected that most Lincoln shoppers assume a certain amount of size comes with the brand, and they may find the MKC too small for their wants/needs.

I certainly don't mind LIncoln selling higher-profit vehicles well...and hey, the real story here is the Flex!!

[bdegrand]

I find it very interesting that the MKX outsells the MKZ and the MKC. I had kind of expected the MKC to take over as the dominant Lincoln due to recent trends and pricing.

However, I also have suspected that most Lincoln shoppers assume a certain amount of size comes with the brand, and they may find the MKC too small for their wants/needs.

I certainly don't mind LIncoln selling higher-profit vehicles well...and hey, the real story here is the Flex!!

The MKZ has been basically unchanged since 2013 model. The MKZ outsold the MKX by 8000 last year and is only behind about 300 units for 2016. I think the new design MKX is why they are so close in sales.

[BORG]

Wow - look at the incentives at FCA and GM compared to Ford, especially as a percentage of ATP.

 

Surprised that GM ATPs are higher than Ford - must be the big SUVs, trucks and expensive Caddys.

 

GM's ATPs have always been higher than Ford's with a few occasional fluctuations due to incentive spending on F-150 (which is back to normal now so Ford's ATPs are down again). GM sells more luxury cars and trucks than Ford while Ford sells more Crossovers and fleet products like vans. Ford's truck business is more dependent on fleet business than GM's which is lower margin, but Ford also sells the most expensive trucks in the business which will get another bump with the new SuperDuty. Ford and GM still have relatively high industry ATPs because of their truck business but GM obviously brings in much more money and volume...which doesn't necessarily equate to pure profit however. GM's budget end of the spectrum is also much more robust than Ford's with cars like Trax, Sonic, and Spark so it's particularly interesting to see GM with robust ATPs despite selling far more 'cheap' cars. But as always, this is a global business and the US is just one piece of that puzzle.

Edited March 2, 2016 by BORG

[BORG]

The MKZ has been basically unchanged since 2013 model. The MKZ outsold the MKX by 8000 last year and is only behind about 300 units for 2016. I think the new design MKX is why they are so close in sales.

 

 

The MKX was on production hiatus for 6 months in 2015 which makes this an unfair comparison. They weren't making MKXs all year until June and it took until late fall to fill inventories and orders.

 

MKX is satisfying some pent up demand, but the MKZ is also in a stagnant segment while MKX + MKC is where all the growth is. MKC is having a hard time likely because it's not appealing to Lincoln customers, gas prices are low, and it's a car that requires new customers which Lincoln has a hard time bringing in. The MKX is an established name with a loyal base (like myself) and you can immediately see that effect since it has been doing very well, although it's still far from the industry standard for segment sales. MKC will likely need to continue iterating to build it's audience. MKZ gets an update this year which may slow things down a bit as incentive spending usually drops on newer models for a few quarters. The MCE likely won't bring in newer customers but will keep MKZ customers coming back. The Continental should be a big hit among Lincoln loyalists and might bring in new Lincoln customers, but I'm curious to see what happens to the sales of other cars. Lincoln has a history of cannibalize itself because of it's small customer base that doesn't grow easily.

Edited March 2, 2016 by BORG

[630land]

Should've brought back Zephyr name when for the updated MkZ ; too late now. But Continental is getting attention from outside Lincoln fans, I think.

Non-car friends of mine have heard or it and like the look.

 

Aviator name coming? Bring back more names.

 

And, some Lux makes use car names: Porsche, Rolls, Alfa, Land Rover; so not all alpha soup.

[iamamultitasker]

interesting read here

 

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2016/03/01/202992-automakers-to-see-44-billion-revenue-solid-new-vehicle-sales.html

 

incentive spending is up

 

These don't appear to be real numbers - just estimates. On the Feb 2016 sales call, I think LaNeve said Ford ATP's were up $ 1,200 YoY.

[rmc523]

Should've brought back Zephyr name when for the updated MkZ ; too late now. But Continental is getting attention from outside Lincoln fans, I think.

Non-car friends of mine have heard or it and like the look.

 

Aviator name coming? Bring back more names.

 

And, some Lux makes use car names: Porsche, Rolls, Alfa, Land Rover; so not all alpha soup.

 

I understand your point, but let's not pretend that Zephyr is a name that would cause people to break down the door to acquire the car....it just doesn't have the same name recognition as something like Continental, or even Aviator, IMO. That said, building a name takes time. It'll be interesting to see if they switch back to all names, or continue the current combination of some names, some alphanumerics.

[bdegrand]

The MKX was on production hiatus for 6 months in 2015 which makes this an unfair comparison. They weren't making MKXs all year until June and it took until late fall to fill inventories and orders.

 

MKX is satisfying some pent up demand, but the MKZ is also in a stagnant segment while MKX + MKC is where all the growth is. MKC is having a hard time likely because it's not appealing to Lincoln customers, gas prices are low, and it's a car that requires new customers which Lincoln has a hard time bringing in. The MKX is an established name with a loyal base (like myself) and you can immediately see that effect since it has been doing very well, although it's still far from the industry standard for segment sales. MKC will likely need to continue iterating to build it's audience. MKZ gets an update this year which may slow things down a bit as incentive spending usually drops on newer models for a few quarters. The MCE likely won't bring in newer customers but will keep MKZ customers coming back. The Continental should be a big hit among Lincoln loyalists and might bring in new Lincoln customers, but I'm curious to see what happens to the sales of other cars. Lincoln has a history of cannibalize itself because of it's small customer base that doesn't grow easily.

Let's forget the 2015 comparison and use 2014 sales comparison. The MKZ outsold the MKX by over 10,000 and also the year prior. Hey, I love Lincoln vehicles and the MKX, but if we are talking a comparison....the numbers tell the story. Thanks for driving Lincoln.

[akirby]

MKX should be outselling MKZ based on general utilities vs. sedans trends.

 

I thought MKC would be a lot higher but I think the size is limiting sales vs. MKX.

 

I would guess you'd see the same with the other luxury brands with similar sized utes.

Edited March 2, 2016 by akirby

[jpd80]

interesting read here

 

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2016/03/01/202992-automakers-to-see-44-billion-revenue-solid-new-vehicle-sales.html

 

incentive spending is up

while incentives were up, ATP was up even more

[fordmantpw]

From the press release (and quoted in PD's original post):

 

 

We saw a solid industry last month and a strong month for Ford, as customer demand for our newest vehicles – including new high-end series on Explorer and Edge – helped Ford increase its average transaction prices at almost double the industry average,

Edited March 2, 2016 by fordmantpw

[630land]

"MKX should be outselling MKZ..."

 

Auto writers go on saying "nobody is buying cars anymore!", but lots of fresh Beemers, Benzes and Audi cars in Chicago's North Shore burbs. So, Lincoln shouldn't just sell Utes.

 

I think some writers are in cahoots with makers/dealers to get trendy types to empty their wallets for "tall cars", hence the constant "anyone who's anyone is buying a CUV, and you'll be uncool if you don't!"

Edited March 2, 2016 by 630land