Ford (NYSE:F) said Friday that U.S. sales of its namesake brand this week topped 2 million vehicles for the first time since 2007. This makes Ford the "best selling brand in America", and the first automotive brand to hit the 2 million mark in almost five years, it said.
"Ford's lineup of high-quality, fuel-efficient cars, utilities and trucks continues to attract more and more new customers," said Ford's sales analysis manager, Erich Merkle. "With gasoline prices tracking higher than last year, customers continue to move toward smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, whether they are passenger cars or utilities."Ford's smallest utility, the fuel-efficient Escape, has achieved record sales volumes this year and is "America's best selling utility vehicle", the company said in its statement. Overall, Ford brand small cars, like the Ford Fiesta and the Ford Focus, are on pace to post an increase of more than 20 percent this year, while Ford brand utilities are tracking to post more than a 30 percent gain, the company added.
Indeed, Ford is not the only auto maker that is expected to benefit from improving labour market data in the US, and consumer confidence. The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence jumped to 64.5 this month - an eight month high - from a revised 55.2 in November. This could mean big business for car retailers next year. According to car pricing website TrueCar.com, new light vehicle sales in the US are expected to rise 8.1 percent in December from a year ago, and 24.4 percent from November this year on a non adjusted basis, with sales volume estimated at the strongest level since March.
The December 2011 forecast translates into a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 13.5 million new car sales, up from 12.5 million in December 2010, but down from 13.7 million in November 2011.
"December’s sales rate was a continuation of the rather slow and steady recovery that now symbolizes 2011, " said vice president of industry trends for TrueCar.com, Jesse Toprak, in a statement earlier this week.
"This year was absent of a blockbuster sales month but we see this pace of growth as healthy and sustainable in the coming year where the industry is going to sell nearly 14 million units based on the merits of its products and improved economy."TrueCar.com expects new car sales will reach nearly 12.8 million units this year, and rise to 13.8 million units for 2012.
Every major auto maker except Honda Motor Co. (NYSE:HMC) and Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM) saw higher sales this year, according to the website. Retail sales for December are projected to rise 8.7 percent compared to the prior year period, and grow 26.0 percent from November 2011. Ford is forecast to have the second biggest market share in the US of the top seven car manufacturers this month, at 16.5 percent, compared to GM (NYSE:GM) with the first spot at 18.9 percent.