Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner - November Ford Sales Are Up

Ford Super Duty sales increased by 7.5 percent in November, while the F-series sold 713,325 trucks, 195,000 more than Chevrolet and GMC combined to capture the title of America’s best-selling pickup for the 44th straight year.

Meanwhile, the Ford Transit, America’s best-selling van, sold 9,917 units, 13.9 percent over last year, and a 70-percent increase in commercial sales for the month. Outselling its nearest competitor by 41 percent, Ford now holds a 31-percent share of the full-size van market.

Recording its first Bronco Sport sales at the end of the month, Ford’s Explorer also gained 21.9 percent on sales of 18,848 SUVs.

Shelby GT350 and GT500 sales increased 33 percent, with Mustang sales overall totaling 4,119 cars this month. Mustang’s retail share increased 1.4 percent to 32 percent of the segment.

This came at a time when total industry sales for November declined by 15 percent on sales of 1.24 million vehicles. According to Ford, the industry was down 12 percent, while fleet sales were off 25 percent. Attributing the loss to one less weekend in November this year than last, the automaker also cited renewed stay-at-home orders with the rise in COVID-19 cases.

Mark La Neve, Ford vice-president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service said, “F-150 inventory continued to tighten as we moved through our Q4 changeover to the all-new F-150. This was a result of coronavirus-related production stoppages in Q2 and a strong sell-down of the current model F-150. Dealers are really looking forward to the 2021 F-150, which is now in transit, as well as Bronco Sport and the all-new Mustang Mach-E.”

Granted, a surge in sales often accompanies the introduction of a new F-150, and the arrival of the Bronco Sport should bring a lot of potential buyers to Ford showrooms, but the Mustang Mach-E? Let’s not get too excited about a nameplate extension that should never have been.

La Neve should have reserved some of that enthusiasm and instead heaped praise on the Transit, who is eating Mercedes-Benz’s Sprinter’s lunch. A local Mercedes-Benz dealer said that shortages in early 2021 will likely continue, which would only increase Ford’s leadership position in full-size vans.

What remains to be seen is if the Ram ProMaster can also inch its way past Mercedes in the commercial and retail categories.

[Images: © 2020 J. Sakurai/TTAC]