2021 Ford F-150 Lariat
Ford
U.S. car sales in Ford Motor fell 15.6% last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, declining sales of commercial fleets and strict inventories of its F-150 vans.
Sales of the popular full-size van fell about 33% in the fourth quarter from the same time last year, the automaker reported Tuesday. Lower sales have been attributed to the persistent effects of the factory shutdown last spring due to the Covid-19, as well as a shift in production facilities to produce the redesigned F-150.
“We are now optimizing production at both plants and it’s a matter of getting more F-150s from our dealers,” Erich Merkle, Ford’s head of U.S. sales analysis, told CNBC. He said F-150 inventories were 141,000 units to finish last year, down from 267,000 a year earlier.
Ford’s sales drop for 2020 is expected to be in line with the U.S. auto industry, which is expected to drop between 15% and 14.5 million vehicles. These would be the lowest domestic sales since 2012. It also puts an end to an unprecedented five-year sales streak of more than 17 million units.
Ford truck sales fell 11.3% in 2020, while SUVs fell 9.7% year-on-year. Passenger car sales, which Ford is suspending, apart from key models like the Mustang, fell 44.7% compared to 2019.
Andrew Frick, Ford’s vice president of sales in the United States and Canada, believes the company is well positioned this year from a product standpoint as it moves away from passenger cars.
“The fourth quarter marked a turning point for Ford in our transition from cars to a much larger focus on iconic trucks and SUVs to better serve our customers,” it said in a statement. “We are well positioned to see the benefits of our focused efforts throughout 2021.”