Ford Motor Co. F released its first-quarter sales report on April 2.
Quarterly sales declined year over year as the coronavirus brought production and sales activities to a near-halt. The carmaker's results were also weighed down by poor demand for trucks, SUVs and passenger cars.
Overview of the quarter
The Michigan-based automaker sold a total of 516,330 units in the first quarter, down 12.5% from the same period last year.
Sales were down 5.4% for trucks, 11% for SUVs and 36% for passenger cars. Passenger car sales were adversely affected as the company plans to shift its focus from sedans to SUVs and trucks.
Mark LaNeve, vice president of U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service,commented on the "unprecedented" coronavirus pandemic that is currently making headlines worldwide.
"Our dealers and employees have jumped into action to support health care workers, their communities and millions of our customers. Our Ford team is working around the clock on everything from building healthcare equipment, assisting our dealership network and providing our customers peace of mind through deferred vehicle payments. I have never been more proud of our team.”
Ford Mustang sales totalled 18,069 units, up 6.8% over the past year. This was attributable to robust sales of GT350 and GT500, which doubled from the year-ago quarter. Ford Explorer sales gained 5.64% to 56,310 units and was the best-seller in the midsize SUV segment.
In contrast, Expedition sales tumbled 9.11% to 19,790 units.
F-Series and Lincoln sales
F-Series sales were down 13% year over year to 186,562 units. The company cited timing of its fleet sales as the reason for the decline. In addition, the Covid-19 outbreak hampered sales in March.
Lincoln sales amounted to 25,561 units, which reflected a gain of 2% over the past year. The brand's SUVs witnessed sound sales improvement of 6.1% during the quarter to 20,561 units thanks to strong performance of the new Corsair and Aviator models. By contrast, sales declined roughly 33% to 5,245 units for the Nautilus and 14.39% to 3,826 units for the Navigator. However, that had a negligible impact on Lincoln’s quarterly growth.
Ford proposes cash for clunkers program
As U.S. auto sales tumbled due to the pandemic, Ford said it is exploring a "cash for clunkers" stimulus program to get back on track. This initiative provides car owners an economic incentive to trade in their old, low mileage vehicles for more fuel-efficient ones. In a statement, LaNeve said:
“We think some level of stimulus somewhere on the other side of this would help not only the auto industry and our dealers, which are a huge part of our overall economy, but will help the customers as well. We’re in discussions about what would be the most appropriate.”
Disclosure: I do not hold any positions in the stocks mentioned.
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