Ford Posts One Heckuva May In Sales

No automakers had a great month, but as automakers struggle to find a magic sales formula, the domestics fared better than expected, and Ford did better than most imports.

Yes, domestic incentive spend is way higher than import incentives, but automakers from overseas increased their spend levels last month, while the domestics lowered them -- and Ford didn't just do better in terms of percentages and market share than its cross-town rivals, it also posted better numbers than just about any another brand.

Ford sold 155,954 vehicles last month -- second only to GM, which sold 191,875 vehicles in May. Sales of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles were off 24.3% last month versus the month last year, with Ford divisional sales of 25.5%. Those are negative numbers, but less negative than most others. In fact, critical vehicles like Fusion, Flex and the Ford hybrids set sales records.

And Ford's Lincoln brand, actually up 2% last month, was one of the few U.S. brands that didn't have a negative before its monthly tally.

Chrysler sold 79,010 vehicles last month, which it says makes May its best month of the year. Sales for the company were off 30% versus the month last year, but Chrysler said no vehicles produced for fleet went to fleet.

Ford says it has reduced inventory enough to increase production this quarter and next to meet demand.

According to Edmunds.com, combined incentives spending for domestic manufacturers averaged $3,766 per vehicle sold, a $224 decrease versus April; European automakers upped incentives by $214 to $3,823 per vehicle sold; and Japanese automakers increased spend to $1,907. Only Hyundai and Kia lowered incentives spending by $533 to $2,894 per vehicle sold.

In sales, Toyota came in third, with 152,583 vehicles for the month -- down 38.4% from last May, with Toyota divisional sales off 39%. Lexus Division reported May sales of 16,922 units, a decrease of 33.9% from the year-ago month. Edmunds.com says Toyota last month spent on average $1,755 versus $1,034 last year.

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. posted May total vehicle sales of 98,344, a decline of 39.2% versus last May, which -- to be fair -- was an all-time record for the automaker as record gas prices sent sales of its small cars through the roof.

Excerpts from "Marketing Daily" of MediaPost Publications

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