Ford's sales soar in US with 'cash for clunkers' incentive
Ford's US sales rose 17pc in August, a second consecutive month of increases, bolstered by the US government's "cash for clunkers" incentive programme, the automaker said yesterday.
Ford also said that its F-Series pick-up trucks had a monthly sales increase for the first time since October 2006, suggesting an early sign of US economic recovery.
Ford said US sales rose to 182,149 vehicles for all of its brands in August, from 155,690 vehicles a year earlier.
The automaker's July sales rose 2.3pc, supported by the "clunkers" programme.
Brands
Sales rose 16.8pc to 176,323 vehicles for Ford's core Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands. US sales in its Volvo car unit rose 24.8pc to 5,826 vehicles, the automaker said.
SUV sales fell 33.7pc and truck and van sales rose by 12.2pc.
The US government "clunkers" incentive programme started in the last week of July and ran for more than three weeks in August before the funds were exhausted. Industry sales quickly tapered after the programme ended.
Ford sold a US August record 25,547 Focus compact cars, up 56pc from a year earlier. The Focus was one of the top-selling vehicles in the "clunkers" programme.
Ford, the only large US-based automaker that has not restructured in bankruptcy with federal funding in 2009, had said that already-constrained inventories at the end of July tightened further in August. (Reuters)
