Ford’s Q3 Vehicle Sales Outperform Industry As Demand Recovers From Coronavirus Lockdowns
Sales of F-Series pickups and SUVs helped Ford outperform its Detroit crosstown rivals as well as the broader auto industry in the third quarter. Ford on Friday reported its vehicle sales in the third quarter were only down 4.9% from a year earlier. That compares to GM, Fiat Chrysler and the overall industry that were down about 10%.
Ford said its third-quarter sales were up 27% relative to the previous three months. It also reported its best third quarter sales of pickups since 2005, according to the company.
Consumer sales helped drive the recovery, while Ford’s fleet sales to businesses also started showing signs of a recovery in the third quarter, the company said.
“Fleet also rebounded nicely. It was very good to see that. We were down 13.7% in Q3, but we were up 137% compared to Q2,” LaNeve said, citing sales of the company’s Explorer police interceptor vehicles.
Explorer sales rose 74% in the third quarter compared to a year earlier. Ford F-Series pickups were up 3.5%. Smaller Ford Ranger pickups were up 8.2%.
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Ford is “cautiously optimistic” regarding vehicle sales in the fourth quarter, according to LaNeve.
“We’re carrying really good momentum into Q4,” he said. “Obviously, nobody really knows what twist and turns could come from a pandemic environment or the election, but certainly Q3 exceeded expectations and we’re looking forward to Q4.”
Ford’s sales through the third quarter were down 17.5% from the same time in 2019. GM’s sales during that time were down 17.4%, while Fiat Chrysler was down about 20%.
– CNBC