November’s total industry declined 15 percent on total sales of 1.24 million vehicles. At retail, Ford estimates the industry was off 12 percent, while the fleet was down 25 percent. Industry declines are largely attributed to one less weekend in November this year than last year and a renewed focus on stay-at-home policies due to rising coronavirus cases.
F-Series sales were impacted by lower inventories attributed to the lingering effects of the Q2 coronavirus production stoppage combined with the transition to the all-new F-150.
While Super Duty sales were up 7.5 percent, F-150 sales were off 45.9 percent. All-new 2021 F-150’s began shipping to dealers at the end of November.
Fusion and Fiesta continued to wind down as Ford transitions from cars to SUVs. Ford sales adjusted for F-150’s transition and the discontinuance of Fusion and Fiesta were down a more modest 7.4 percent – less than the overall industry decline of 15 percent.
Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service commented:
“Super Duty sales produced a strong gain in November with sales up 7.5 percent. 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.”
Commercial and government fleet sales recovered and were both up 7 and 14 percent, respectively, compared to a year ago. Daily rental fleets sales continue to weigh on the overall fleet total, with sales down 87 percent.
Explorer sales totalled 18,848, up 21.9 percent over a year ago. Ford also reported its first sales of the 2021 Bronco Sport as ford transitions from cars to SUV s.
Led by Transit, Ford van sales gained 5.2 percent, on sales of 16,322 vehicles. Transit van sales generated a 13.9 percent gain on sales of 9,917 vehicles.
Mustang retail sales gained 7.4 percent expanding its retail share of segment 1.4 percentage points – totalling just over 32 percent share.
With the overall large premium SUV segment down in November, Aviator gained approximately 3 percentage points of share in November over a year ago at 12 percent share.
WINNING PORTFOLIO
As America’s best-selling van, Ford Transit November U.S. sales totaled 9,917 vans. This was a 13.9 percent increase over a year ago, with a 70 percent increase in sales to commercial customers for the month.
In November, Ford’s Transit Van outsold its second-place competitor by 41 percent, with 31 percent total share of the full-size van segment
America’s best-selling pickup has sold 713,325 pickups through November of this year. This is just over 195,000 more pickups than its second-place competitor, placing F-Series in position to record its 44th straight year as America’s best-selling pickup. November Super Duty sales increased by 7.5 percent.
Ford Explorer November sales gained 21.9 percent on sales of 18,848 SUVs. Ford continues to see a strong mix of high-end performance ST which represented 17 percent of sales in November. Explorer continues to be on pace to take back America’s best-selling mid-size SUV for the year. Ford also reported its first sales of Bronco Sport at the end of November.
Combined November retail sales of Shelby GT350 and GT500 increased 33 percent. Mustang sales overall totaled 4,119 cars for the month, and while this is down over a year ago, retail sales were up 7.4 percent, Mustang’s retail share continues to buck the trend, with a retail share of segment up almost 2 percentage points in November to just over 32 percent of the segment.
While the large luxury SUV segment was down in November, Lincoln’s Aviator retail share of segment expanded 3 percentage points over last year to 12 percent of the segment. Year-to-date, Lincoln’s overall retail share is up 0.7 percentage points at 5.4 percent of the premium vehicle segment.
