Filed under: Car Buying, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Earnings/Financials

We'll publish our By the Numbers feature detailing sales results for every brand and automaker in the U.S. later today, but we just had to tell you the news: Ford Motor Company has just reported a 2.3% sales gain for July 2009 versus the same month last year. Why is that a big deal? For one, FoMoCo, General Motors and Chrysler LLC have been on a streak of monthly sales losses going all the way back to January 2008 when GM posted a 2.1% gain. The last time Chrysler reported positive numbers was December 2007 with a meager 1.0% improvement. Ford has gone the longest - 19 months - without reporting a sales gain, its last one being razor thin at 0.4% all the way back in November 2007.

And to what can we attribute Ford's positive performance in July 2009? A number of things, including a fresh lineup of vehicles, new hybrids, positive press and, of course, a little bit of help from the Cash for Clunkers program. Not all can be credited to CFC just yet, though, as dealers only actively started accepting trade-ins at the end of the month. Nevertheless, Ford's entire portfolio of brands reported gains except for Lincoln, which was down 24.3%. The Ford brand was up 2.9%, Mercury gained 6.6% and even Volvo erupted with a 25.7% sales gain.

Of individual models, the 2010 Escape made the biggest sales gain selling 20,241 units, a 94.2% improvement versus July 2008. The new 2010 Fusion also did well, selling 17,610 units for a 66.0% jump in sales. Even the Focus improved selling 21,830 units for a 43.6% gain.

Click here (PDF download) to view Ford Motor Company's complete sales performance for July 2009, and keep your eyes open for our industry-wide By the Numbers report later today.

[Source: Ford | Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images]

Continue reading The Streak Is Broken! Ford posts first sales gain in 19 months

The Streak Is Broken! Ford posts first sales gain in 19 months originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink