Ford Motor Company saw US sales drop 19 percent in July as demand for nearly all its product lines skidded, the automaker said Wednesday.
Some of the loss came from a planned 57 percent cut in low-margin sales to rental car companies. But sales to individual retail customers also fell 17 percent.
Overall sales reached 195,245 vehicles in July and were down 12.2 percent at 1.57 million vehicles for the year to date.
The luxury Lincoln brand managed to post its tenth month in a row of higher retail sales, although total sales fell 2.1 percent because of a decline in sales to rental car companies.
Ford said its new and redesigned crossover sports utility vehicles also showed strong gains, with sales up 40 percent in July and for the year to date. Land Rover sales rose 19 percent, reflecting demand for the all-new LR2.
“We are encouraged by the progress we have made and consumers' response to our new products,” said Mark Fields, Ford's President of the Americas.
“At the same time, we know we have a lot of work to do, and July is a sobering reminder of the economic and competitive challenges we face.”
