Ford has again hiked its third quarter US production target in what industry observers said was a sign that the automaker’s strategy to gain market share from government-funded domestic rivals might be paying off.
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The company now intends to build 485,000 new cars and light trucks during the quarter, up 16% on the 418,000 assembled in Q3 2008, Dow Jones reported.
Ford announced earlier this month that it was raising output 10% to produce 150,000 cars and 310,000 trucks in the third quarter. This week’s revised target adds 15,000 more cars and 10,000 trucks.
This will be the first time in two years that Ford’s quarterly production is increased year on year and comes amid fresh signs that the downturn in US auto sales might be slowing, the report added.
“We decided last year to break the mould and stop over-producing,” Mark Fields, Ford’s president of the Americas, told the news agency. “Our inventory is now down and with demand up, driven by our new products, we are in the position to increase production again. There is definitely a cessation in the deterioration of the economy.”
Ford’s situation is in contrast to Detroit rivals General Motors, currently in bankruptcy, and Chrysler which idled all plants for two months as it restructured and only resumed production at seven North American plants on Monday soon after emerging from its time in Chapter 11 protection.
According to Dow Jones, Ford executives have used media and public appearances to highlight the automaker’s decision not to take federal aid, which appears to have been seen favourably by some customers. GM and Chrysler both accepted low-interest federal loans to keep going.
“We see customers coming into showrooms who appreciate that Ford is doing its turnaround on its own,” Fields was quoted as saying.
He also said he expected to see yet another gain in retail market share in June when official data is Wednesday night. This would be the eighth out of the past nine months that Ford has boosted its US retail market share, the news agency said.
Meanwhile, Ford’s top sales analyst, George Pipas, told Dow Jones June could be the US auto industry’s best month since sales began a free-fall last autumn.
The annualised sales rate in the US could hit 10m this month for the first time in 2009, Pipas said.
