NEWS: F-Series Sets 13-Year Sales Record as Pricey Trims Lead the Way
Selling in volume is no longer Ford’s only way to move sheet metal, as customers willingly shell out big bucks for loaded models.
May can be a tricky month for automakers, as it marks the beginning of the end of current model-year vehicles, and the ordering process for incoming new-year models begins. In other words, consumers are stuck deciding if they should take advantage of 2017 “year-end” deals, or hang tight for refreshed 2018 models.
Of course you already know what we did. We recently scored a sweet lease deal on a brand-new 2017 F-150 XLT.
There’s a slight chance that no one at Ford knows that May is a tricky month for sales, because they just announced a 2.2 percent gain compared to May of 2016. The key to a successful month can be summed up in two categories: trucks and fleet. Overall retail sales (local dealerships) were down 0.8 percent, but fleet sales enjoyed a massive 8.4 percent gain compared to May of last year. To put it into actual units, Ford sold 158,282 vehicles through their retail channels, and 82,844 through their commercial fleet program.
By far the stars of the show (or month) are Ford trucks and SUVs, as they blasted through previous statistics, breaking a 13-year sales record. Ford F-Series sales of 76,027 pickups increased 12.8 percent last month, and saw a massive $3,300 increase in average transaction pricing. That means lots of folks are buying trucks, and they’re buying them pretty well loaded — a trend that’s been rising steadily for the last couple of years. Could this lead to the demise of the basic truck?
Ford Explorer sales increased 20.7 percent, with 22,715 SUVs sold, also marking the vehicle’s best May performance in 13 years. Who said “13” was bad luck? The Expedition also enjoyed a 13.9 percent sales increase compared to last month, and the Edge and Lincoln models saw positive figures on the balance sheet as well.
Will the positive trend continue as 2018 models roll out?
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