Ford to post 1st monthly sales increase in 2 years

[camaro5]

'Cash for clunkers' program boosts Ford to first year-over-year sales increase since 2007

CHICAGO (AP) -- Surging demand from the government's "cash for clunkers" program has helped lift Ford Motor Co. to its first monthly increase in two years, the company's top sales analyst said Sunday.

July sales results mark the first year-over-year gain for Ford since November 2007 and apparently the first uptick by any of the six biggest carmakers since last August, George Pipas said.

He declined to disclose a specific total before sales results are officially reported on Monday. Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford sold a total of 161,071 vehicles in July 2008, down 15 percent from a year earlier.

The increase further testifies to the successful reception of the government rebate program, which President Barack Obama signed into law June 24 as part of a broad $106 billion spending bill.

"We were having a good month -- and Ford's been having some good months lately -- but the (clunkers) program really put us over the top for sure," Pipas said in a telephone interview.

The government's Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) was designed to get old, polluting vehicles off the road and scrapped while helping car dealers emerge from the recession. Owners of gas-guzzlers could receive rebates of $3,500 or $4,500 toward the purchase of a new fuel-efficient car. The program proved wildly popular and led to the sale of 250,000 new vehicles in just days.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Sunday he expects the current $1 billion pool, which had been expected to last until November, to be exhausted by the end of this weekend.

The House on Friday approved an additional $2 billion, shifting funds from a renewable energy loan program, and the Obama administration is pressing the Senate to go along before its summer vacation begins at week's end. If the Senate does not approve the additional funding, the progam will have to be suspended.

Improved sales at Ford and elsewhere may be another sign that the economy has either bottomed out or is nearing a bottom. The government reported Friday that the economy shrank at a pace of just 1 percent in the second quarter, better than analysts anticipated and much better than the 6.4 percent decline seen in the first three months of the year, which marked the steepest slide in nearly 30 years.

Pipas said the July sales increase is "some indication that consumers are getting their feet on the ground again. ... I think it indicates that maybe the worst is behind us, sales-wise."

The July sales also make it the ninth month in the last 10 that Ford has posted a gain in market share, he said.

Pipas said that is evidence of the success of the company's new products -- the Fusion and the Fusion hybrid, the Escape, the redesigned Focus, the Mercury Mariner and the Mercury Milan -- all of them among its most fuel-efficient vehicles.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Ford-t...12080.html?x=0

[Super83Z]

[MuscleCarz]

[Vash]

I think they have the worst looking lineup in history. Minus the Mustang and the Trucks. There sedans look soooo boring. I mean snoore yawn snoore. I would rather drive a horse and carriage than half of there aweful lineup.

[Zabo]

Originally Posted by Vash

I think they have the worst looking lineup in history. Minus the Mustang and the Trucks. There sedans look soooo boring. I mean snoore yawn snoore. I would rather drive a horse and carriage than half of there aweful lineup.

Aside from the Coyote Mustang.. I wouldn't even touch a Ford. I speak from experience. Other than the '11 D2C II 'stang, I'll stick with a pre 1990 F250 please.

[Blownhotrodder]

Well, the quality is up and ford blows gm's advertising out of the water not to mention the whole little bailout thing. Regardless it always goodnews to hear things picking up for the auto industry and domestic ingeneral.

[FenwickHockey65]

Ford sales up 2.3%

http://media.ford.com/images/10031/July09sales.pdf

[Georgie]

new taurus looks good

[Dangerzone]

46% More Likely To Buy Ford ‘Cause It Didn’t Get A Bailout
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/publ..._get_a_bailout

[nester7929]

Originally Posted by Vash

I think they have the worst looking lineup in history. Minus the Mustang and the Trucks. There sedans look soooo boring. I mean snoore yawn snoore. I would rather drive a horse and carriage than half of there aweful lineup.

To each their own I suppose. Ford has really stepped up their game interior wise.

I wouldn't want a sedan either, but if I did you can bet the Taurus SHO would be one of the first ones I looked at.

[MuscleCarz]

Originally Posted by Dangerzone

46% More Likely To Buy Ford ‘Cause It Didn’t Get A Bailout
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/publ..._get_a_bailout

Yeah, that's from last week.

I find it disturbing that 13% would avoid Ford because they DID NOT take a bailout.

In other news: Big 3 made up 47% of C4C sales; Focus top-seller.

[DGthe3]

Good for Ford, they've had the longest dryspell of the big 3. Chrysler posted only a single digit decline, and GM was down 'only' 19%, which is slightly worse than Honda and better than Nissan and BMW. No automaker posted a decline greater than 30%, which is great considering there were a few months when there were declines in excess of 50%. Lets hope things contunue through august.

Originally Posted by Vash

I think they have the worst looking lineup in history. Minus the Mustang and the Trucks. There sedans look soooo boring. I mean snoore yawn snoore. I would rather drive a horse and carriage than half of there aweful lineup.

I agree that most of their cars are boring, but so is every Honda and Toyota and the general public seem to love driving a jelly bean shaped appliance to and from work every day. Dodge has the most ... unique designs and they've been posting the largest sales drops of any automaker over the last 9 months.

[nester7929]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

I agree that most of their cars are boring, but so is every Honda and Toyota and the general public seem to love driving a jelly bean shaped appliance to and from work every day. Dodge has the most ... unique designs and they've been posting the largest sales drops of any automaker over the last 9 months.

Yeah, but Dodge is also known for overpricing and QC issues, so that could be it as well. Most the people I know love Dodge's designs, but aren't thrilled about the supposed shoddy build quality.

[GTAHVIT]

Good for the Blue oval...


We need Ford to do well. They will most likely lead the way to GM's complete recovery.