Ford: Small cars help drive big sales in July

Ford Motor Co. Thursday reported its best July sales in seven years. The Dearborn-based automaker said sales last month grew 11 percent compared with a year ago to 193,715 vehicle sold, marking Ford’s best July sales results since 2006.

DEARBORN, MI- Ford Motor Co. Thursday reported its best July sales in seven years.

The Dearborn-based automaker said sales last month grew 11 percent compared with a year ago to 193,715 vehicles sold, marking Ford’s best July sales results since 2006.

Ford said car sales were up 13 percent, utilities were up 19 percent, and trucks were up 27 percent in July.

“We saw continued strength and growth in our retail business, particularly in the coastal regions of the country,” said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, U.S. marketing, sales and service, in a statement. “Our small cars and hybrids continue to attract new customers to Ford and away from our competitors, thanks to the vehicles’ combination of styling, technology, fuel economy and performance.”

Ford small cars – including Fiesta, Focus and C-Max hybrids – were up 32 percent, with a combined 27,131 sales, making it Ford’s best July for small car performance since 2000.

In this photograph taken June 27, 2010, the familiar blue oval shines on the grille of an 2010 Ford F-150 Platinum pickup truck at a Ford dealership in the west Denver suburb of Lakewood, Colo.AP Photo

Overall, Ford’s namesake brand experienced a 12 percent increase, while its luxury Lincoln brand dropped less than 1 percent compared to a year ago.

Through July, Ford's total U.S. sales were up 13 percent to nearly 1.5 million vehicles sold.

Ford is the second of the Detroit automakers to release July sales. Earliertoday, Chrysler Group LLC also reported an 11 percent increase from the same time a year ago -- marking its 40th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains. General Motors Co. and non-domestic automakers are expected to release July sales results later today.

In a bit of a surprise, Edmunds projects Toyota Motor Corp. will beat out Ford in total sales monthly sales in July for the first time since March 2010. 

1. Ford F-Series- 60,449 (427,935)

2. Ford Escape- 22,343 (178,969)

3. Ford Fusion- 20,522 (181,668)

4. Ford Focus- 16,764 (151,549)

5. Ford Explorer- 12,742 (108,044)

1. Police Interceptor Utility- 96.9% (1,347)

2. Ford Fiesta- 88.9% (7,667)

3. Ford heavy trucks- 31.2% (635)

4. Ford F-Series- 22.6% (60,449)

5. Ford Taurus- 21.3% (6,373)