Ford Motor Co. today reported a slight drop in sales last month compared to April 2013. The Dearborn-based automaker says sales totaled 211,126 vehicles last month , down 0.7 percent from 212,584 vehicles sold the same time a year ago.
DEARBORN, MI- Ford Motor Co. today reported a slight drop in sales last month compared to April 2013.
The Dearborn-based automaker says sales totaled 211,126 vehicles last month, down 0.7 percent from 212,584 vehicles sold the same time a year ago.
Retail sales, according to Ford, were off 1 percent compared with a year ago. Commercial and government fleet sales were up 16 and 21 percent, respectively, while daily rental sales declined 24 percent.
Ford's F-Series pickups continued to lead the company, as its car sales slowed in April.
“F-Series and Explorer showed considerable strength in April, posting their best results in almost a decade,” said John Felice, Ford vice president, U.S. marketing, sales and service. “We also saw another breakout month for Fusion, with continued strength in the Western region. Overall, industry sales continued the rebound from January and February and are on a path of steady growth.”
F-Series sales totaled 63,387 vehicles last month, making for the truck’s best April since 2006.
TrueCar.com senior analyst Eric Lyman said the automaker's sales were hurt particularly by an 11-percent decline in its luxury Lincoln brand, older products and decline in car sales.
Ford is currently in the midst of introducing 23 new or significantly redesigned vehicles globally, including 16 in the U.S.
Industry analysts expect pent-up demand from the first two months of the year and rising consumer confidence to drive April U.S. auto sales up at least 9 percent for compared to a year ago.
“Things are looking pretty strong, certainly quite a bit better than we saw in January and February,” said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book. “Sales remained quite robust.”
Inclement weather across the Midwest and other parts of the country for the first two months of the year hurt auto sales.
Both compact utility vehicles and full-size trucks, as they have been doing this year, will benefit from this month’s strength, according to Gutierrez.
The expected increase in sales would bring the year-to-date total to 5.15 million vehicles sold, a 3.6 percent increase from this time last year.
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Michael Wayland covers the automotive industry for MLive. Email him at MWayland@mlive.com & follow him on Twitter @MikeWayland or Google+.