Ford Sales Flourishes in 2010; 2nd in US Sales

[OmarKareem]

In business for 107 years, Ford Motor Company has reached the highest of highs with the Model T, Taurus and Mustang. In spite of successes, Ford’s journey also included tribulations such as the Edsel division disaster and a $12.7 billion loss resulting from a dismal 2006 year. Four years after that latest misfortune, Ford Motor Company is now the idolized automaker in the United States and even the world thanks to a completely refreshed business model. The 12 months of 2010 serves as a period of redemption for Ford as they increased sales and market position

Sales grew across the vehicle spectrum for Ford as cars, trucks and sport utility crossovers all showed consistent growth in 2010. Ford brand car sales have exploded to 591,210 units equating to a 21.5 percent improvement over the 2009 calendar year. Including Mercury and Lincoln, car sales were up 17 percent accounting for a total 696,918 sold. Leading all Ford products in sales is multi-faceted Ford Fusion accounting for 219,219 cars. Set for a redesigned version arriving this spring, the Focus still found 172,421 buyers to be the second-best selling car for the Ford brand

However, as much as Ford dedicated itself as a car company, the truck division still remains important to the American automaker. Demonstrating the largest year-to-year change upwards by 27.1 percent, the F-Series pickup truck continues to firmly lead every model in sales with 528,349 moving off dealership lots

Besides cars and trucks, crossover vehicles remained popular within the Ford Motor Company product for 2010. Accounting for 441,925 units, the crossover and utility lineup for the Ford brand was led by the Ford Escape which accounted for 43% of the total vehicle type sales. Showing an amusing bounce over the previous 12-month period, the largely unchanged full-sized Ford Expedition enjoyed a 17.9 percent rise in sales as 2010 indicates that some American motorists are selecting to return to habits existing before the 2008 gasoline price spike

Recently announcing a renewed commitment to their Lincoln brand, the Ford Motor Company’s 2010 sales figures showed a modest 3.6 percent rise. While the Lincoln MKT has been criticized by industry insiders in late 2010 for less than expected sales, the 7-passenger luxury utility vehicle attracted 7,435 buyers. The Lincoln luxury brand will be planning to pump up MKT sales by availing the large crossover for fleet use in 2011, replacing the outgoing Lincoln Town Car

In the final year of Mercury, the wind-down of the brand concludes with 93,195 vehicles sold, roughly a 1,000 unit increase over the 2009 sales. In fact, with exception to the Sable which was discontinued for 2010, all Mercury vehicles enjoyed a mild sales increase including the Grand Marquis

Rejoicing with 2010 numbers being a major improvement over the difficult 2009 automotive sales, the numbers paint a picture of a much different industry. Compared to the 2006 model year, vehicle sale numbers are consistently lower within the Ford Motor Company. Taking previous Ford brands Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo out of the count, total Ford product sales is down by almost 800,000 vehicles. Of note, the 2010 Ford F-Series pickup truck sales were down almost 268,000 units from 2006 tabulations. Though selling fewer vehicles, Ford Motor Company admits their motivations is to maintain profitability

While Ford’s intentions was to maintain itself as a financially-stable car company, the American automaker did score a major win. In 2006, Ford Motor Company lost its industry standing as the 2nd highest-selling automaker in the United States to Toyota. Thanks to the revitalized Ford and with Toyota suffering through a series of high-profile recalls, the United States auto ranking once again has Ford in the second-highest spot behind General Motors