Jul 01, 2011

Ford Motor sales up 14% in June, led by cars, SUVs

By Fred Meier, USA TODAY
Updated 3h 22m ago

The redesigned 2012 Ford Focus is a strong seller.
CAPTIONFord, WieckFord Motor's sales in June rose 14% vs. a year ago on strength in small cars and SUVs.

Total sales were 194,114, with cars up 17%, SUVs up 15% and trucks rebounded from a weak May to be up 9%. For the second month, V-6 F-150 pickups outsold the V-8s.

The new Focus continued to be strong, with sales of 21,385, up 41% vs. the old model last June. Ford touted that Focus was selling in areas where Ford and the other domestics have not been strong. "The Fiesta and Focus are driving Ford's retail share gains in markets beyond our traditional geographic areas of strength," said Ken Czubay, VP, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. "In California, Ford's retail share is the highest since 2006. We also have seen gains in the East and Southeast."

Ford's struggling Lincoln brand showed strength in the month with sales up 17%, led by the MKZ sedan (up 31%), MKS flagship (up 18%) and MKX crossover (up 36%).

While Ford continues to talk most about its small cars, the big, new Explorer crossover continued to be hot, with sales up 56% vs. the old model last June. In fact, sales of the new one in the first six months of this year (65,823) have passed 2010 full-year Explorer sales (60,687).

In the first six months, Ford Motor sales are 1.07 million, up 12%, with retail sales up 14% and fleet up 9%.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... ars-suvs/1