Ford Motor sales slide in October despite Lincoln's good month
Ford Motor's U.S. sales saw a double-digit slump in October even as the fortunes of the Lincoln luxury brand perked up.
The automaker based in Dearborn, Mich., saw sales slide 11.9% in October compared to the same month last year, according to Autodata.
The automaker sold 187,692 vehicles for the month. The Lincoln brand recorded 6.9% growth to 9,069 new cars and trucks, and the namesake Ford brand fell 12.7% to 178,623 vehicles, compared to a year earlier.
Analysts at Edmunds.com has predicted declines of 10.9% and Kelley Blue Book forecast Ford;s would fall 10.8%. The overall industry was down about 4.4% for the month, according to Autodata, though that figure will be revised lower after Ford's report.
Ford stock fell 0.5% in early trading to $11.55.
The company's October performance suffered in part because it sold a disproportionately high percentage of units to corporate fleets and rental-car agencies early 2016. Those sales generate big sales numbers, but because buying in bulk results in substantial discounts, not as much profit as hawking cars to individual customers. Fleet sales fell 24% to 45,668 for the month, according to Ford.
But retail fell too, dropping 7%, even as the company spent an additional $180 per vehicle on incentives than it did a year ago.
The company's cars endured steep declines as consumers embrace bigger vehicles amid low gasoline prices. Car sales plummeted 27.5% for the month to 44,925, the company said.
The F-series pickup truck, the most popular vehicle in the U.S., posted a 0.1% gain to 65,542 vehicles, fueled partly by redesigned Super Duty trucks.
Ford did not report October sales on Tuesday, when the rest of the industry issued sales report. A fire at an electrical substation cut off power to facilities at its headquarters on Monday, preventing dealers from reporting final-day sales figures on time.
Ford said it did not lose any data because backup power worked as expected.
Follow Paste BN reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.