Ford September US Sales Up 23%

Even Volkswagen, mired in a scandal over cheating on emissions testing for 11 million vehicles, saw a 0.56 percent sales gain. Ltd. (NSANY.PK), said total US sales for September 2015 increased 18.3% to 121,782 units, from 102,955 units in the same month previous year. “Ongoing pent-up demand and easy credit combined with aggressive, year-end incentive activity and a holiday weekend to supercharge buying activity in almost every market segment”.

Among the few negatives was the Ford Focus, with sales down 13 percent for the month and 7 percent on the year. During September, Ford’s fleet sales were 24% of total sales, less than the automaker’s year-to-date figure of 28%. On the conference call, Ford noted that F-150 inventory ended September with roughly 100,000 units, which was a gain of about 8,000 units despite the strong sell-through of F-150 trucks.

Trouble could be on the horizon, though, as the United Auto Workers have threatened to strike Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant, which builds the F-150, by Sunday if a local contract is not reached.

Total sales compare to an estimate of 205,000 by analysts at Kelley Blue Book. “I think it would take a shutdown in excess of 2-3 weeks if not more before you see an impact”.

Retail sales increases were broad-based with passenger auto sales up 15 percent, SUVs up 23 percent and trucks up 29 percent. That’s already a calendar-year record for the EcoBoost sales total, and Ford still has three months to pad the stats for a new record. It was paced by GMC, which rose 23.8 percent. Lincoln sales are now up 9.1 percent on the year, while the Ford brand is up 4.5 percent through September. “Still, incentives, while up a few, aren’t outsized, as average transaction prices overall continue to be solid”.

Fiat Chrysler’s sales increased 14 percent to 193,019, boosted by the continued strength of its Jeep SUV brand. Sales were driven by Jeep, which posted a 40 percent gain. Sales at the company’s Chrysler brand fell 5 percent.

Ford achieved its best September for pickups since 2006 and for utility vehicles since 2003.

The company finished with a 76-day supply of inventory. (TM) – all reported double-digit percentage growths in vehicle sales. Nissan Division sales rose 17.3% to 111,562 units, while Infiniti division sales surged 30.4% to 10,220 units.

Sales of the Lincoln brand rose 19.6% year over year in September, while sales of Lincoln utility vehicles rose by 23%.

Ford today and tomorrow is launching a new ad campaign created to draw attention to its vehicle lineup, he says, conceding Americans are increasingly enamored with light trucks.

“We had a strong Labor Day period, we had a sales event that ended the day after Labor Day…but we stayed strong for the balance of the month”.

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., a unit of Japan’sToyota Motor Corp.

Other automakers will release their numbers throughout the day Thursday.

September was an extremely strong month for Ford overall, and as the company continues to crank out more and more F-150s and SUVs to consumers, expect profits to rise during Ford’s third and fourth quarters this year. “The F-Series hit 70,000 units in August for the first time this year, and should show continued improvement this month”.