Ford Boasts “Eye-Popping” Sales in August (courtesy of Cash for Clunkers); Boosts 3Q Production To Meet Demand

August 13, 2009 at 11:35 am

(Source: Business Week & WSJ)

Ford Motor Co. is upping its production of fuel efficient vehicles in the third quarter to meet demand, the company, says for vehicles being purchased under the extended Cash for Clunkers program, as well as overall increased interest in new cars by consumers.

Cash for Clunkers is pushing August sales so far this month to levels not seen since before the global credit meltdown last Fall. In the first few days of August, Edmunds.com says the auto industry was cracking at a 16 million a year rate. That’s up from less than a 10 million selling rate in the first half of the year, and less than 12 million rate in July.

Ford increased its third-quarter production to 495,000 new vehicles, driven primarily by the demand for its Focus and Escape models. The company will build 6,000 more Focus vehicles during the quarter through overtime and Saturday shifts.

Ford senior sales analyst George Pipas says that it is too early to project the selling rate for August on the whole. “But I can tell you that retail sales we are seeing is eyepopping versus a year ago.”

Ford’s chief economist Ellen Hughes-Cromwick said the clunkers program could generate as much as 750,000 in new vehicle sales for the industry and is now on pace to run out of money within the next three weeks.

“This is what fiscal stimulus is suppose to do when you are in the financial situation we were in,” Hughes-Cromwick said.

Ford’s European executives said Wednesday they are holding formal talks with different governments to continue similar clunkers programs which are boosting sales in such countries as Germany. Russia, which is in a deep economic slump, also said Wednesday it too will start a scrappage offer.

Ford will build 10,000 more Focus sub-compact cars and Escape crossover SUVs than it had planned. In July, the first month of the government’s Clunkers program, the Focus was the top model purchased with the help of government rebates, while the Escape was the only utility vehicle to make the top ten.

Ford is increasing its North American production to a total of 495,000 units in the third quarter, an increase of 18% from the same quarter in 2008. Ford also plans to produce 570,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, a 33% boost from the same quarter last year and 15% above planned third-quarter output.

The increased production will come after the Clunkers program has run out of money, but Ford says it will need it to replenish depleted inventories and deal with increasing demand for more fuel efficient vehicles as consumers anticipate higher gas prices with a recovering economy.

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Cash for Clunkers Update: Big Three rakes in 47% of sales; Ford Focus top-seller

August 3, 2009 at 5:40 pm

(Source: Detroit News via Autoblog & Bloomberg)

Image Courtesy: Apture - Ford Focus

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has processed 80,500 transactions so far, and the early winner of Cash For Clunkers appears to be the Ford Focus. The Detroit News is reporting that the Focus is the number one vehicle purchased under the government program, showing us why Ford’s C-Segment vehicle gained 43.6% in July. Ford also saw an amazing 97% increase in Escape sales in July, a tally that was likely improved with the help of Cash For Clunkers.

The controversial and somewhat clumsy program is drawing plenty of attention for its popularity amongst car buyers, and Detroit automakers appear to be taking more than their fair share of sales.

The White House says 47% of all vehicles sold through the bill so far come from US automakers; 2% higher than the domestics’ 45% overall share. Four of the top 10 vehicles purchased under the program come from domestic automakers, and over half of all vehicles were built in the States.

This wildly popular program is currently all but spent and is awaiting the Senate nod for a further $2Billion cash infusion to keep it going.   On Friday, the House approved the $2 billion increase. The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday or Thursday; the White House is pressing it to act. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told MSNBC that the program has been a “lifeline to the economy.”

To drum up support for more dollars, the White House is touting the program’s value. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says the average fuel economy increase so far is 9.4 mpg; a 61% increase verses the vehicles destined for a sodium silicate bath. So far, 83% of the vehicles traded in have been trucks, while 60% of the vehicles purchased under the program have been cars. The White House estimates that Cash For Clunkers will save the average car buyer $700 – $1,000 in gas prices during the life of the vehicle.

The sales last month from the federal incentives may result in fewer buyers later this year after the program ends, George Pipas, Ford’s sales analyst, told CNBC today.

A similar program in Germany won’t sustain sales growth into 2010 as those incentives expire, said Matthias Wissmann, president of the German carmakers, today at a Frankfurt news conference. Germany’s car market expanded by 26 percent from a year earlier in the first half, propelled by increases of at least 40 percent in May and June.

Our favorite auto website,  Jalopnik, offers a comprehensive list of the top 10 vehicles  sold and trade-ins) dealt under this CARS program.

The Ten Most Traded-In Vehicles (vehicle’s EPA mileage)
1. 1998 Ford Explorer (14-17 mpg)
2. 1997 Ford Explorer (14-18 mpg)
3. 1996 Ford Explorer (14-18 mpg)
4. 1999 Ford Explorer (14-18 mpg)
5. Jeep Grand Cherokee
6. Jeep Cherokee
7. 1995 Ford Explorer (15-18 mpg)
8. 1994 Ford Explorer (15-18 mpg)
9. 1997 Ford Windstar (18 mpg)
10. 1999 Dodge Caravan (16-18 mpg)

The Ten Most Purchased Vehicles (vehicle’s EPA mileage)
1. Ford Focus (27-28 mpg)
2. Honda Civic (24-42 mpg)
3. Toyota Corolla (25-30 mpg)
4. Toyota Prius (46 mpg)
5. Ford Escape (20-32 mpg)
6. Toyota Camry (23-34 mpg)
7. Dodge Caliber (22-27 mpg)
8. Hyundai Elantra (26-28 mpg)
9. Honda Fit (29-31 mpg)
10. Chevy Cobalt (25-30 mpg

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In a Sluggish Japan, Prius Sales Boom

May 31, 2009 at 12:00 pm

(Source: Time & Green Car Congress)

Orders in Japan for Toyota’s new Prius hybrid have topped a booming 110,000, a major dealership chain said Saturday, in what is turning out to be a rare bright spot in the gloomy auto market.

The third-generation Prius officially rolled out in Japan just two weeks ago. But dealers are already flooded with orders, including some placed weeks in advance, according to the dealership. (See TIME’s photos of General Motors factory-scapes)

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest automaker, said two weeks ago that it received 80,000 advance orders, and has not updated that number.

But the Toyota Tokyo Corolla dealer said Saturday that nationwide orders at Toyota dealerships in Japan, including those of rivals, have soared to 110,000. Dealers tally their customer orders differently from the way manufacturers do.

But any way you slice it, the Prius is a hit. Toyota has set its monthly sales target for Japan at 10,000 new Prius cars — a figure that should make it the top-selling car in the country.

As the orders stack up, the company looks on track to meet or even surpass its goal and take that crown — an astonishing accomplishment for a hybrid, although the Prius is fighting competition from another new hybrid, Honda Motor Co.’s Insight.

Hybrids are in demand partly because the Japanese government began offering tax exemptions for the cars to encourage their sales earlier this year.

The overall Japanese auto market has been languishing for years, with vehicle sales falling to their lowest level in more than three decades last year. Demand has worsened since the U.S. financial crisis sent this nation into a recession.  According to Green Car Congress, the Nikkei estimates that Japan passenger car production in fiscal 2009 will likely decrease to 1979 levels, mostly due to a plunge in exports. The projection, which was compiled based on automakers’ data and interviews with company officials, calls for the eight Japanese passenger car firms to assemble 8.21 million vehicles in the year ending in March 2010, 14% fewer than last year and the second consecutive annual decline, following a 15% fall in fiscal 2008.