Ford's August Sales show Strong SUV and Pickup Demand
The automaker posted a solid month despite a continued plunge in its car lineup.
August U.S. light-vehicle sales received a little help from a soft comparable due to Hurricane Harvey ravaging Houston in August 2017. Sales will have a tough comparable from Harvey for September 2018. August 2018 sales declined by 0.2% year over year to 1.48 million, while Automotive News put the seasonally adjusted annualized selling rate, SAAR, at 16.69 million versus 16.58 million in August 2017. Both Augusts had 27 selling days, and this is the lowest SAAR yet of 2018. Ford gave industry incentive dollar spending figures by vehicle segment that did not show a major change in high incentive levels, and we continue to expect a battle for the rest of the year between new-vehicle incentives and consumers drawn to used vehicles as more vehicles come off-lease. Light trucks are king in this market and that remains good news for the Detroit Three, which each get at least nearly 80% of their U.S. unit sales mix from light trucks.
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