Ford July Sales Dive on Lower Fleet, Car Sales
Ford's July sales dropped more than 7% on a sharp fall in fleet sales and a smaller, but still big, drop in passenger car sales.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) on Tuesday reported a U.S. sales decline of 7.5% year over year in July, to 200,212 Ford and Lincoln vehicles, compared with July 2016 sales of 216,479. Passenger car sales fell 19.4% in the month of July.
Truck sales fell 7.1% for the month, and sales of F Series pickups increased by 5.8%. Retail sales were down 1% in July at 159,492 units and fleet sales fell 26.4% to 40,720 units.
Total sales compare to an estimate of 202,000 by analysts Kelley Blue Book (KBB), who also estimated an average transaction price of $38,445, up 2.4% year over year and down 0.7% compared with June’s average selling price of $38,731. KBB transaction prices do not include applied consumer incentives.
Sales of the Ford F-Series pickups rose 5.8% year over year in July to 69,467 units, and F-Series transaction prices rose $2,500 year over year. In June Ford sold 77,895 F-Series trucks, following a May sales total of 76,027.
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Truck sales comprised just over 40% of all Ford-brand sales in July, and the F-Series pickups accounted for about 35% of total July sales.
Sales of the company’s sport utility vehicles (SUVs) posted a year-over-year increase of 2.2% in July.
Ford Fusion sales fell more than 42% year over year, and only the company’s Focus passenger car posted a year-over-year gain (up 18.1%). Fiesta sales were down 12.5% and Mustang sales fell 35.1% year over year.
Sales of the Lincoln brand fell by 2.5% year over year in July as sales of Lincoln cars rose 2.6%, primarily on sales strength for the all-new Lincoln Continental. Car sales totaled 3,366 units in the month and utility vehicle sales totaled 5,509 units. SUV sales fell 5.3% year over year in July.
Ford’s stock traded down about 2.8% shortly after Tuesday’s opening bell at $10.90. The 52-week range is $10.67 to $13.27, and the 12-month consensus price target is $12.49, according to MarketWatch.
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.
