Sales of F-Series pickups and SUVs helped Ford Motor outperform its Detroit crosstown rivals as well as the auto industry in the third quarter.
Ford’s vehicle sales in the third quarter fell by just 4.9% from a year earlier, the company said, compared with steep declines for General Motors, Fiat Chrysler. Across the industry third-quarter sales fell by about 10% from the same time last year.
Such declines typically aren’t cause for celebration, but this year is anything but typical. New vehicle sales have recovered far faster than many expected from the second quarter when the coronavirus pandemic caused plant shutdowns and shuttered dealerships, sending sales down more than 30% compared to 2019.
“The industry had a very sharp recovery from Q2 to Q3,” Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service, told CNBC on Friday. “It’s been a crazy year but the industry has been resilient and our dealers have done a great job.”
Ford said its third-quarter sales were up 27% relative to the previous three months. It also reported its best third quarter sales of pickups since 2005, according to the company.
