The sales totals were near the high estimate of 180,000 units from Edmunds.com. WardsAuto was looking for sales of 170,000 and Kelley Blue Book projected sales of 172,000.
January sales of Ford’s best-selling F-Series pickups came in at their highest level since 2004, an all-time record year for F-Series sales. The company said the pickups are averaging just 12 days on dealer lots and that higher-priced versions hang around the lot for about 10 days. In December the pickups were spending an average of five days on dealer lots, which indicates either that the supply is growing or that enthusiasm has cooled a bit. Truck sales in January, including the new Transit vans, rose 19.8% year-over-year to 68,657 units.
Other top-selling Ford vehicles, the Escape and the Explorer, experienced sales hikes of 3.1% and 28.2%, respectively, in January. The full-size Explorer has been getting a boost from low gasoline prices, but now that pump prices are beginning to tick up sales of the Explorer may slow somewhat.
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Ford’s car sales fell 3.8% in 2014. Utility vehicle sales were up 3.5% for the year and truck sales were down 0.7% for the year. Overall, sales for all Ford and Lincoln vehicles fell 0.5% year-over-year in 2014.
2015 sales are off to a good start for Ford. Investors appear to agree, bidding the stock up about 2.5% in early trading Tuesday to $15.65, in a 52-week range of $13.26 to $18.12.
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