Ford announces that it is idling 4 plants, 2 in Mexico, 2 in US that make the F 150, Ford Escape and Lincoln MKC, Fusion and Fiesta.

Just before Ford idled the Mustang line due to soft sales.

In Sept total car sales were down 12% compared to same time last year, but car only sales were down 20% as compared to Sept 2015 and truck sales down 2.9%.

GM is number 1 in light truck sales for 2016 and Toyota Tundra is up by 5.6%.

That said there is customer LOYALTY which is the % of people who trade in the same make the buy. Truck owners have the highest rate of loyalty at 74%, followed by Vans at 52% and SUV at 47%.

Overall Ford sales are down 8.1% and F truck (F 150-F450) are down 2.64%

There was not a breakdown on the Ford Super Duty, but reading it I am guessing that SD sales are the shining star.

This may help somewhat in your getting a deal.

My dealer sells more SD's than anything else. They focus on the SD and pickup their other sales by SD owners buying other Ford Products.

 

I saw this news yesterday and it was surprising to me... I feel like Ford has one of the strongest lineups it has had in many many many years. Maybe I am just biased towards Ford.

 

I am with you on that and this is coming from a guy who up until my '09 F 350 had never owned a Ford in his life or even considered it. BUT I am an Engineer (retired) and I see things from a very technical view and IMO FORD has it hands down over GM/Dodge, not even close!

 

Could truck sales be down because of the roll out of the 2017 Super Duty? People waiting, so sales slowed?

 

Ford has the best trucks but not the cheapest trucks. Sadly it's the same reason many of our things are made in China. Best doesn't equate to better sales always. There has been an uptick in rebates that I think are slightly higher than this time last year, but 0% still is the way to go for most situations.

 

Interesting that Ford stock (NYSE: F) continues to rise in the wake of this report. Will continue to monitor. Remember...buy low, sell high!!!

 

Big industrial machinery makers like John Deere and Caterpillar have been selling fewer combines, forklifts, tractors and earth movers in the last few years as well.

I think its because the whole global economy is considerably softer than we're getting told on the evening news.

The good news for us new/prospective buyers though is that we might start seeing bigger and more aggressive factory rebates on 2017 SDs sooner rather than later.

 

A lot of friends have opted for GM vehicles due to the warranty alone. Wish ford would give a 100k on everything they build for mass production.

 

I think this fits the GM Warranty perfectly.

 

Haha. I've never owned a GM product and am not brand specific. That midst say something.

 

Don't hold your breath. Idling plants is to avoid the need to go crazy on rebates. Ford has figured out this is the best way to remain profitable in a downturn.

The SD is not one of the idled plants BTW.

 

Every time gas hits around the $2 mark, small car sales start to suffer. Plus this is the industries dead time. Soon as fuel prices increase the demand for smaller cars will go back up.
Its a repeating cycle.

 

Please provide a source for this news.

Never mind, I finally found it here http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2...investors.html

 

Oh, and it's only ONE of the F150 plants, not both of the them.

 

As we can see with the delays on the new Super Duty, most likely reason Ford sales are down is the transition to the aluminum Super Duty. Same thing happened with the F-150. I'm guessing its F-150 sales right now making up the bulk of sales, despite heavy inventories. In a few months to early next year, Super Duty sales will really start to pull Ford truck sales even higher.

Election years tend to have a negative effect on the economy. The F-150 is considered a bellwether of the economy, though.

Personally, I'm proud to have contributed to the well-being of a great American company like Ford by purchasing a new 2017 Super Duty.