While most major automaker have finally switched over to quarterly sales reports, Ford officially lets us know how the company’s sales are doing in November 2020. We expect most other manufacturers to officially publish end-of-year and Q4 sales results about a month from now.
The grim 2020 reality sets in when reading Ford’s November 2020 sales report. While there is some very good news related to the Ford Explorer sales increases, the Ford F-Series sales are down significantly (-27.2%) when compared to November 2019.
Ford says: “F-Series sales were impacted by lower inventories attributed to the lingering effects of the Q2 coronavirus production stoppage combined with the transition to the all-new F-150. While Super Duty sales were up 7.5 percent, F-150 sales were off 45.9 percent. All-new 2021 F-150’s began shipping to dealers at the end of November.”
Ford normally does not report the Super Duty and F-150 sales separately. They are usually combined into a single “F-Series trucks” number. This time Ford sheds more light on the matter. The Super Duty (F-250, F-350, etc) trucks sales are doing relatively well and growing year-over-year (+7.5%). While the F-150 half-ton sales are down -45.9%.
Naturally, COVID-related factory stoppages and a factory switchover to produce the new 2021 F-150 are huge obstacles to overcome. Usually, a new generation factory switchover takes a toll on a vehicle’s sales for at least a couple of months. Ford is making a vehicle generation switch during a very difficult time. The vehicle happens to be their best-seller – the F-150.
We will continue to monitor the sales data for the year and compare how all truck manufacturers handled a very difficult year.
TFLtruck recently purchased an F-150 Raptor long-term test truck. Take a look at the video for all details.
