by Patrick Rall

Ford Motor Company kept the momentum going in July 2011 with their year over year (compared to the same month last year) gains of 8.9% ranking them third in terms of growth among major automotive groups, behind just the Chrysler Group and BMW.  Unfortunately, while small, fuel friendly vehicles like the new Ford Fiesta saw great growth in July 2011, the Mustang slumped from the 8,900 units sold in June to just 6,805 new Mustangs sold in July.  This allowed the Chevrolet Camaro to grab the monthly title for top sales among the American muscle cars as GM managed to sell 7,671 examples of the Camaro.  However, with 173,051 vehicles sold, the Ford brand was the bestselling single brand in the US market.

The top model for Ford in terms of year over year growth was the Explorer with 9,897 SUVs sold accounting for an improvement of 107.8%, the popular Ford Escape came in second with an improvement of 66.2% and the Fiesta was third with a jump of 58.1% over the same month last year.  Interestingly, as the Ford Ranger has officially seen production come to an end, the compact pickup moved 6,410 units for an improvement of 23% over last year, and with gas prices soaring, consumers still flock to the Ford Expedition as the brawny sport utility vehicle saw a jump of 19.7% over last year in selling 3,313 vehicles.

In terms of sales volume, the Ford F Series was (as usual) the leader in July 2011 with 49,104 trucks sold – a decline of 2.7% compared to last July.  The next best vehicle from the Ford brand in terms of sales was the Escape with 24,411 units sold, followed by the tried and true Fusion with 19,318 units sold.  The Ford Focus was 4^th in total sales with 14,889 vehicles hitting the road and the Ford Explorer climbed to the 5^th spot with 9,897 examples of the new SUV sold.  Looks like shifting the new Explorer to a unibody construction relying on a V6 for power didn’t turn out to be such a bad idea after all.

The Mustang saw a 9.1% decline in July 2011 compared to July 2010, with sales dropping to 6,805 coupes and convertibles.  The Mustang led the segment in sales for June 2011 with almost 8,900 units sold – breaking the Chevrolet Camaros 2011 shutout – but with a slower month in July the Camaro claimed its 6^th monthly title of the year.

In the coming months, Ford can expect to see more growth from their compact models – specifically the Fiesta, Focus and Fusion.  The Fiesta and Fusion have shown regular growth through the beginning and middle of this year while the Focus has taken a hit in sales as more consumers hold off for the 2012 models to reach their local showrooms.  

As a side note, part of Ford Motor Company’s success in July was due to the growth of the Lincoln brand.  After struggling through the early part of 2011 without the help of the Mercury brand, Lincoln has battled back to show growth each of the last two months.  In July 2011, Lincoln moved 7,814 luxury vehicles for an improvement of 40% over last year.

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