As Ford Motor Co. president and CEO Alan Mulally was on Capitol Hill trying to convince lawmakers to provide billions of dollars in financial assistance to the struggling U.S. automakers, his company was reporting another month of declining sales.
Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford (NYSE: F) said November sales declined to 123,222 units, from 177,485 a year ago, a 30.6 percent drop.
For the first 11 months of 2008, Ford sales declined 19.7 percent, to 1,849,309 units, from 2,301,681 units during the same period in 2007.
“The economy continues to weaken and auto sales reflect this reality,” Ford group vice president of marketing and communications Jim Farley said in a news release.
The biggest sales decline in November came in the sport utility vehicle category.
Ford’s Explorer, Explorer Sport Trac and Mercury Mountaineers are made at the Louisville Assembly Plant on Fern Valley Road. The company plans to begin manufacturing the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator at the Kentucky Truck Plant on Chamberlain Lane beginning in 2009.
Explorer sales declined 44.7 percent, to 4,763 units from 8,609 units a year ago. Mountaineer sales declined 71 percent, to 484 units from 1,667 units a year ago.
Expedition sales declined 22.3 percent, to 4,371 units from 5,627 units a year ago. Navigator sales declined 42.1 percent, to 968 units from 1,672 units a year ago.
Sales of the F-150 pickup trucks, including the F-Series Super Duty trucks made at Kentucky Truck Plant, also continued to slide in November.
Ford sold 37,911 units, down 18.6 percent from November 2007, when it sold 46,568 units. That is an 18.6 percent decline. Ford combines F-150 truck sales with Super Duty sales for reporting purposes.
Even small vehicles, which had been a bright spot for Ford, showed weakness in November.
Sales of the Focus compact car declined 38 percent, to 8,194 units from 13,213 units a year ago. Sales of the Escape compact SUV declined 19.1 percent, to 10,019 units from 12,383 units a year ago.
+ Nov.2008 Auto Sales: GM Sales Plummet 41.3%
+ Nov.2008 Auto Sales: U.S. Likely to See 25% Drop Again
+ Nov.2008 Auto Sales: Japan Hits 49 Year Low
+ Nov.2008 Auto Sales: Toyota/Nissan Led Biggest Drop in Japan in 39 Years
Ford said in the release that it will continue with its plan to produce 430,000 units in the fourth quarter.
For the first quarter of 2009, it plans to make 430,000 units, down from 692,000 units in the first quarter of 2008.
