jrmckinley

Yikes. Source https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/06/ford...n-2020-du.html

Copy and pasted from article:

• U.S. auto sales for Ford were down 15.6% in 2020 compared to a year earlier.
• The decline was due to the coronavirus pandemic, decline in commercial fleet sales and tight inventories of its F-150 pickup trucks.
• Ford’s 2020 sales decline is expected to be in-line with the overall U.S. automotive industry.

U.S. auto sales for Ford Motor fell 15.6% last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, decline in commercial fleet sales and tight inventories of its F-150 pickup trucks.

Sales of the popular full-size pickup tumbled by about 33% in the fourth quarter from the same time last year, the automaker reported Tuesday. The lower sales were attributed to lingering effects from factory shutdowns last spring due to Covid-19 as well as a changeover in production of the facilities to produce the redesigned F-150.

“We’re optimizing the production at both plants right now and it’s a matter of getting more F-150s out to our dealer lots,” Erich Merkle, Ford’s head of U.S. sales analysis, told CNBC. He said inventories of the F-150 were 141,000 units to end last year, down from 267,000 a year earlier.

Ford’s 2020 sales decline is expected to be in line with the overall U.S. automotive industry, which is expected to be off by about 15% to 14.5 million vehicles. That would be the lowest domestic sales since 2012. It also ends an unprecedented five-year streak of sales topping 17 million units.

Ford’s truck sales slid 11.3% in 2020, while SUVs were off by 9.7% year-over-year. Sales of passenger cars, which Ford is discontinuing, aside from key models such as the Mustang, plummeted 44.7% compared with 2019.

Andrew Frick, Ford vice president of U.S. and Canada sales, believes the company is well-positioned this year from a product standpoint as it transitions away from passenger cars.

“Fourth quarter represented an inflection point at Ford in our transition from cars to a much greater focus on iconic trucks and SUVs to better serve our customers,” he said in a release. “We are well positioned to see the benefits of our focused efforts throughout 2021.”

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

i was going to write that perhaps the decrease was also due to ending most sedan sales too, they may not have been very profitable but still represented a chunk of unit volume sold.
now i see it says sedans were down 44.7% so i think there's the answer. truck and suv sales were similar to other makers.

mmarshall

Good point. You probably would have been correct. One cannot sell what one does not produce.

LeX2K

“We are well positioned to see the benefits of our focused efforts throughout 2021.”

Could this be any more generic?

UDel

Maybe killing all your sedans had something to do with it and was not such a good idea. Instead how about just making a actual really good competitive sedan instead of killing a entire segment because you don't want to or think you can't.

RNM GS3

Right now Fiesta and Focus would sell well as ppl are more worried about economy and would probably pick a small cheap car rather more expensive crossover.

Fizzboy7

I believe the lackluster Explorer is much to blame for the downfall. This SUV should be carrying the company through tough times, like other SUV's are currently doing for other brands. The "new" Explorer is little to no improvement over the last one. It just has some different exterior lines and a changed dashboard. .A soft Escape, old Mustang, old Fusion, old Edge, old Flex, and lack of other new products round out the rest of the story. This company clearly lacks leadership. The only bright spot are the new Broncos.

mmarshall

No question the new Explorer is a major disappointment, in many ways. The new dashboard and console you mention also has, IMO, some awkward features.


Here, I can't say I totally agree. The Escape is a pretty nice product if you avoid the base version with its Mickey-Mouse engine and El Cheapo interior. The Fusion may be dated but, IMO, is still an excellent mid-sized sedan. The Flex, likewise, is dated but provides the excellent space-efficiency aside that a number of newer SUVs don't. And the Mustang sells precisely because the styling is dated. Like it or not, its buyers have never outgrown the 1960s.

......and we're still waiting for them.