Ford’s August sales numbers are in. Following the now-familiar pattern, Ford’s put a brave face on what can only be described as the tragedy part of that weird ass dual mask drama companies use on their programs. “FORD FOCUS, ESCAPE REMAIN STANDOUTS IN A CHALLENGING MARKET,” FoMoCo’s press release proclaims. Gas misers must truly in vogue, as non-class-leader Ford Focus sales rose 23 percent. Escape sales also escaped the August drought, ascending by 17 percent. OK, now the bad news… All three Blue Oval Brands took in on the chin, year-to-date-wise: Ford (-14.7 percent), Lincoln (-18.8 percent) and Mercury (-23.6 percent). While the general car scene wasn’t all that rosy (-5.1 percent), but the SUV picture was a desert (trucks down 20.1 percent).
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I feel for Ford as business will get a lot worse before it gets better. Drove by my local dealership on Labor Day and it was empty, balloons flying, salespeople standing but no customers. I hope they have enough cash to last until the EuroFords come in to save the day…but I am starting to wonder if they can last until then. I hope they can as Ford is the only NA company that seems to have a plan.
For what was intended to be a hot new model, the numbers on the Flex are terrible.
Only the creaky old Taurus X nee Freestyle sold less.
So what 7 passenger vehicle can I pick up for half of nothing while sales are in the toilet?
Are either the Taurus X or Flex even worth consideration vs the Sienna/Odyssey.
If you are looking for super-cheap the only Ford offerings are the Explorer and the Expedition as incentives on the Flex are being held at none or minimal depending on region. It’s still a new model, and has more pleasant and roomy passenger space than the minivans (plus lots of other nifty little features that you can option on if you like).
GM is still going on with the fire sales on the Vue, Arcadia, Equinox, and Enclave (all of which I think come in 7 passenger versions). There is also the Suzuki XL-7 (which is a rebadged Equinox with a better warranty).
At my dealership at least sales were way up this month from last month. We have run completely out of certain 08 models (Escape, Focus, and Fusion) and stock is getting very thin on others. Truck sales have also jumped around here, with numerous F-150s and Super Duties leaving the lot (and the majority of those not discounted any beyond the manufacturer rebates).
Robert, all of the figures in your post are the YTD changes, not August.
Wow, only 2010 Flex’ sold and even less Taurus X? Ford really needs to market both of those cars better as they are viable alternatives to minivans.
NULLOMODO:
I see you work at a dealership. What has been people’s reaction to the Flex that you have seen?
I really thought it would be a good seller for Ford but we have about 7 Ford dealers around here and every time I drive by their lots, the same Flex’ are still sitting where they were a few weeks ago.
Derek533 –
We had an initial rush of a few sales common with any new model, then things got pretty cold, lots of references to it looking like a big Scion of a hearse, but now things are starting to warm up again.
The biggest difference I see now are that people have actually heard about it (due to more commercials and some press in the magazines I assume) and are coming in to look at it themselves.
Overall we are getting opinions to both extremes, some love the design, some hate it. Our big push is to actually get people to sit inside, as everyone loves the interior, which is easily the best of any Ford to date, and is better than a good number of mid-level luxury brands.
The biggest hurdle for sales right now is that lots of people who are looking to downsize their big SUVs (Expeditions, Tahoes, Armadas, whatever) either have tons of negative equity or are insulted by what their trade is actually worth due to the dead big SUV market. The Flex is really more geared as a fuel-efficient alternative to a big SUV than a minivan replacement (though it does all that a minivan does admirably) and I have a feeling that once people have a chance to get into a better equity position with their full-size SUVs or the economy warms up enough that people can put enough money down to cover the negative swing that sales will start to pick up even faster.
“Gas misers must truly in vogue, as non-class-leader Ford Focus sales rose 23 percent.”The only thing that would be more astonishing and prove that consumers truly are in full panic-buying mode would be if there were a similiar increase in sales of the even more craptacular domestic competitors to the Focus, i.e., Cobalt and Caliber.
A perfect storm of in the toilet sales combined with the financial realities of a brand new building sank the recently relocated Cornelius Ford a long established dealer in Vallejo, CA after only opening the doors only 7 months earlier. Previously they were in the center of town where they had been located for years and rent was cheap (Vallejo being somewhat of an armpit city). Then a new “auto mall” was built alongside I-80 and apparently Ford leaned on them to join the party. The rest is now history.
Not too surprising though as a co-worker was interested in a Fusion a few months prior to the dealer’s eventual implosion, and they wouldn’t budge a dime on the price.
Oh, and they ended up buying a Sonata instead…
Crown Vic was up again. Boy, that “fleet only” sure was a good idea, eh Ford?
NulloModo, thanks for your response.
I think I’ll wait till January and see if I can get a deal on a Flex then.