BrewMaster
12-29-2004, 02:35 PM
Ford expects to set a sales record this year with F-Series trucks
December 29, 2004
BY BILL KOENIG
BLOOMBERG
Ford Motor Co. expects to sell a record number of its F-Series large pickup trucks this year, fending off a challenge from Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. in a market segment that accounts for more than a quarter of the No. 2 U.S. automaker's domestic sales.
Ford, whose share of the U.S. car market has fallen to the lowest since 1981, is "very confident we'll break the record" for full-size pickup sales, spokesman Jon Harmon said. Sales of F-Series vehicles through last week were just 20,000 behind the peak of 911,597 in 2001, he said.
Beating the Japanese in trucks "gives them some bragging rights," said Erich Merkle, an analyst at consulting firm IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids. "They still need product outside of the F-Series pickup. That's the challenge at the end of the day for Ford."
Ford is counting on new and redesigned vehicles such as the Five Hundred sedan to stem a 14-percent drop in car sales this year, led by the Taurus and Thunderbird. The Dearborn company was the only U.S.-based automaker not to lose share in large pickups to Nissan's Titan and Toyota's Tundra.
The F-Series trucks were revamped in the past two years, with Ford in 2003 calling the redesigned F-150, which accounts for 60 percent of the trucks' sales, its most important vehicle introduction that year. The F-Series boosted its U.S. market share among large pickups 1.1 percentage points to 38.1 percent this year through November, according to Autodata Corp.
"Titan came out and didn't hurt" Ford, said Alan Baum, director of forecasting at consulting firm Planning Edge in Birmingham. "It's sweet for them."
CEO Bill Ford, who took the job in October 2001, made new models part of his plan to generate $7 billion in pretax profit by 2006. The redesigned F-150 was the first major vehicle under the 47-year-old executive's leadership, followed by revamped versions of the larger F-Series Super-Duty trucks this year.
The F-Series has been a bright spot amid the company's U.S. sales of cars and light trucks, which fell 5 percent this year through November from a year earlier. Ford's U.S. market share declined to 19.7 percent from 20.9 percent, according to Autodata. Ford's car sales dropped to 935,371 through November, from 1.09 million a year ago.
Ford needs the F-Series, described by analysts as among the company's most profitable models, to hold onto pickup buyers as competition intensifies. Toyota plans to sell a larger version of the Tundra starting in 2006 and will build the trucks at a factory the Japanese automaker is building in Texas.
Steve Lyons, head of the Ford Motor Co.'s flagship Ford division, predicted in January that F-Series would set a sales record in 2004.
Nissan sold 75,643 Titans in the first 11 months and may not reach the company's goal of 100,000 annually. Toyota sold 100,764 Tundras, an increase of 9.4 percent from a year earlier.
General Motors Corp. sold 614,989 Silverado trucks in the same period, a 0.2-percent decrease. The Silverado's share of large-pickup sales fell to 27.7 percent from 30 percent, according to Autodata. Sales of the Dodge Ram, sold by DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, fell 4.1 percent to 392,508, cutting its market share to 17.7 percent from 19.9 percent.
Ford "capitalized on the fact that GM's trucks are long in the tooth," Baum said.
GM hasn't said when the next-generation Silverado will debut. The new Silverado will arrive as a 2008 model, trade publication Automotive News has reported. The Silverado was last redesigned in 1998 as a 1999 model.
Before then, the F-Series will face a challenge from Toyota's enlarged Tundra. Toyota's $800-million factory in San Antonio will be able to produce 150,000 Tundras annually.
In January, the automaker showed a pickup prototype called the FTX at the Detroit auto show that Toyota said would be the biggest such truck sold in the United States. The larger Tundra will be based on the FTX.
linkage (http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/ford29e_20041229.htm)
December 29, 2004
BY BILL KOENIG
BLOOMBERG
Ford Motor Co. expects to sell a record number of its F-Series large pickup trucks this year, fending off a challenge from Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. in a market segment that accounts for more than a quarter of the No. 2 U.S. automaker's domestic sales.
Ford, whose share of the U.S. car market has fallen to the lowest since 1981, is "very confident we'll break the record" for full-size pickup sales, spokesman Jon Harmon said. Sales of F-Series vehicles through last week were just 20,000 behind the peak of 911,597 in 2001, he said.
Beating the Japanese in trucks "gives them some bragging rights," said Erich Merkle, an analyst at consulting firm IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids. "They still need product outside of the F-Series pickup. That's the challenge at the end of the day for Ford."
Ford is counting on new and redesigned vehicles such as the Five Hundred sedan to stem a 14-percent drop in car sales this year, led by the Taurus and Thunderbird. The Dearborn company was the only U.S.-based automaker not to lose share in large pickups to Nissan's Titan and Toyota's Tundra.
The F-Series trucks were revamped in the past two years, with Ford in 2003 calling the redesigned F-150, which accounts for 60 percent of the trucks' sales, its most important vehicle introduction that year. The F-Series boosted its U.S. market share among large pickups 1.1 percentage points to 38.1 percent this year through November, according to Autodata Corp.
"Titan came out and didn't hurt" Ford, said Alan Baum, director of forecasting at consulting firm Planning Edge in Birmingham. "It's sweet for them."
CEO Bill Ford, who took the job in October 2001, made new models part of his plan to generate $7 billion in pretax profit by 2006. The redesigned F-150 was the first major vehicle under the 47-year-old executive's leadership, followed by revamped versions of the larger F-Series Super-Duty trucks this year.
The F-Series has been a bright spot amid the company's U.S. sales of cars and light trucks, which fell 5 percent this year through November from a year earlier. Ford's U.S. market share declined to 19.7 percent from 20.9 percent, according to Autodata. Ford's car sales dropped to 935,371 through November, from 1.09 million a year ago.
Ford needs the F-Series, described by analysts as among the company's most profitable models, to hold onto pickup buyers as competition intensifies. Toyota plans to sell a larger version of the Tundra starting in 2006 and will build the trucks at a factory the Japanese automaker is building in Texas.
Steve Lyons, head of the Ford Motor Co.'s flagship Ford division, predicted in January that F-Series would set a sales record in 2004.
Nissan sold 75,643 Titans in the first 11 months and may not reach the company's goal of 100,000 annually. Toyota sold 100,764 Tundras, an increase of 9.4 percent from a year earlier.
General Motors Corp. sold 614,989 Silverado trucks in the same period, a 0.2-percent decrease. The Silverado's share of large-pickup sales fell to 27.7 percent from 30 percent, according to Autodata. Sales of the Dodge Ram, sold by DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, fell 4.1 percent to 392,508, cutting its market share to 17.7 percent from 19.9 percent.
Ford "capitalized on the fact that GM's trucks are long in the tooth," Baum said.
GM hasn't said when the next-generation Silverado will debut. The new Silverado will arrive as a 2008 model, trade publication Automotive News has reported. The Silverado was last redesigned in 1998 as a 1999 model.
Before then, the F-Series will face a challenge from Toyota's enlarged Tundra. Toyota's $800-million factory in San Antonio will be able to produce 150,000 Tundras annually.
In January, the automaker showed a pickup prototype called the FTX at the Detroit auto show that Toyota said would be the biggest such truck sold in the United States. The larger Tundra will be based on the FTX.
linkage (http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/ford29e_20041229.htm)