Focus sales dropped. Time to worry?
Meanwhile, another of Ford’s high-profile products had just a so-so month. Sales of the compact Focus, which became one of the world’s best-selling cars last year, were down almost 11% over year-ago totals. Are pressures from the likes of Honda and Toyota catching up with Ford’s hit small car?
I’m not too worried, at least not yet, for two reasons. First, the total sales numbers were still solid: Ford moved almost 21,000 Focuses during the month. Second, February 2012 was an absolutely killer month for the Focus, when it posted a 114% gain over prior-year numbers for the model’s best showing in over a decade. That would have been hard to top under any circumstances.
It’s also possible that the striking new Fusion is “cannibalizing” Focus sales to some extent, meaning that shoppers considering the Focus might instead be drawn to (and end up purchasing) a Fusion instead after arriving at the dealership and touching the metal.
But either way, there’s no urgent cause for concern yet – though I’ll be watching Focus sales closely over the next few months.
The upshot: Ford’s gains look set to continue
As it did in January, Ford again had a solid U.S. sales month that bodes well for the company’s first-quarter profits. Looking a bit further ahead, Ford also announced its second-quarter production plan. The Blue Oval plans to build 800,000 vehicles for North America in the second quarter, it said on Friday, an increase of 9% over year-ago totals. Its previously announced plans to build 770,000 vehicles for the region in the first quarter remain unchanged.
Clearly, Ford expects its solid U.S. sales gains to continue for a while longer. That’s likely to be good news for Ford shareholders as 2013 continues to unfold.
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