Production data issued by Ford Motor Company for its North American plants show large month-on-month falls in July for many of the company’s best sellers. Last month is the traditional holiday period for many production facilities in North America, though this can also extend into August.
Among the most notable drops in the numbers for North American production is the company’s top seller, the F-Series pick-up range. Build of the F-150 at Dearborn Truck in Michigan plunged to 16,819 units in July compared to 33,272 in June. Similarly, at Kansas City Truck, production of the same model fell to 8,970 from 13,592 in the previous month. At Kentucky Truck, where all build of the F-Series Super Duty models takes place, production dropped from 24,149 in June to 10,159 in July.
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Build of Ford’s second best selling light truck, the Escape, was also down in July, but by a less dramatic percentage. All North American production of this model is at Kansas City Truck, where in July, build of this SUV dipped to 22,278 units from 29,386 in June.
By contrast, production of the Fusion, which is Ford’s top selling car in the US, rose slightly in July to 28,555 units from 28,388 in the prior month. All build of this model is at the Hermosillo facility in Mexico. Focus production went the other way, its June total of 24,091 plumetting to only 11,400 in July. Michigan Assembly is the only plant which makes this car in North America.
Ford’s US market sales analyst George Pipas confirmed to just-auto that the numbers are due to “(Ford’s) annual vacation shutdown”. This, he noted is comprised of “two weeks at some plants, one week at others”, adding that “…those that didn’t take two in July have one in August”.
For the year to the end of July, Ford Motor Company’s brands have sold 180,865 vehicles in the US market compared to 166,092 in the same period of 2010. The equivalent numbers were 214,915 for General Motors (199,692 in 2010), 130,802 for Toyota/Lexus/Scion (169,224), 112,026 for Chrysler Group & Fiat (93,313), 84,601 for Nissan & Infiniti (82,337) and 80,502 for Honda & Acura (112,437).
Author: Glenn Brooks
