2021 Ford F-150 Lariat
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US car sales for Ford Motor fell 15.6% last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, declining sales of commercial fleets and limited stocks of its F-150 trucks.
Sales of the popular full-size pickup truck fell about 33 percent in the fourth quarter from the same period last year, the automaker said on Tuesday. Lower sales were attributed to persistent effects since the plant closed last spring due to Covid-19, as well as changes in plant production to produce the redesigned F-150.
“We’re optimizing production at both factories right now, and it’s a matter of getting more F-150s out of our dealerships,” Erich Merkle, head of U.S. sales analysis, told CNBC. He said F-150 inventories were 141,000 units that will be completed last year, down from 267,000 a year earlier.
Ford’s sales decline in 2020 is expected to be in line with the US auto industry, which is expected to fall by about 15% to 14.5 million vehicles. This would be the lowest domestic sales in 2012. It also concludes an unprecedented five-year series of sales exceeding 17 million units.
Ford truck sales fell 11.3% in 2020, while SUVs fell 9.7% year-on-year. Car sales, which Ford is discontinuing, in addition to key models such as the Mustang, fell 44.7% compared to 2019.
Andrew Frick, Ford’s vice president of sales in the US and Canada, says the company is well positioned this year in terms of product as it moves away from cars.
“The fourth quarter was a turning point for Ford in our transition from cars to a much greater focus on flagship trucks and SUVs to better serve our customers,” he said in a statement. “We are well positioned to see the benefits of our concentrated efforts throughout 2021.”