Jun 22, 2008 -
How the mighty have fallen
Earlier this week, Ford announced that the redesigned 2009 F150 will be delayed about 2 months to help clear inventory of the existing model. Ford blamed the economic downturn and rising fuel prices for the slower-than-expected sales of their biggest selling vehicle
The following are the May 2008 and year-to-date sales numbers for the top selling vehicles in the US, in order of May sales:
Honda Civic 53,299 164,994
Toyota Corolla 52,826 152,308
Toyota Camry 51,291 198,309
Honda Accord 43,728 166,158
Ford F-series 42,973 235,924
As many people know, the Ford F-series (150 through 550) has been the best selling vehicle nameplate for 25 straight years. And by the year-to-date numbers, they had something of a headstart before fuel prices blew through the roof in March.
I was going through some archived email and stumbled across this... caveat: July 2005 was the famous Employee Discount program at all of the Big 3...
August 2 2005 Ford press release on July 2005 sales - "F-Series sales climb 58 percent to 126,905 - the highest monthly sales for any vehicle in modern day U.S. automotive history."
Since that record high, F-series sale have dropped a dramatic 66% on a per-month basis. And as history has shown in the past 35 tears, the Japanese automakers have once again positioned themselves to take advantage of an American fuel crisis.
Will Detroit ever learn?
