The sale of Ford Motor Co. fell nearly 3% in the fourth quarter as sales of the star F-150 were hit by pandemic-related interruptions leading to the release of the latest version of the pickup, the automaker said Wednesday.
Ford’s F,
Total sales in the quarter were approximately 4.3 million vehicles, a 2.8% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2019, the company said.
Total US vehicle sales fell nearly 10% to 542,749 units, with truck sales down more than 12% and SUV sales down 4%.
Sales of Ford’s all-new 2021 F-150, the best-selling car in the US for decades, began in December.
“Ford sales were impacted by lower F-150 inventories as a result of the ongoing effects of the coronavirus production shutdown in the second quarter that led to the all-new F-150 transition,” the company said.
Sales of the Ford Super Duty pickup truck maintained “a strong sales pace”, increasing 14.1%, while F-150 sales fell nearly 33%, the automaker said.
Ford called the quarter a “turning point” as sales of sedans in the US wind down and sales of newly designed pickups and SUVs soar.
Several automakers were expected to show significant declines last year, halting a five-year period in which sales in the US exceeded 17 million vehicles annually.
General Motors Co. GM,
reported rising total sales in the fourth quarter on Tuesday, but sales fell 12% in 2020.
Also see: Sales of GM products fell for the year, but rebounded back to pre-pandemic levels in the fourth quarter
Tesla Inc. TSLA,
reported Saturday that it produced more than half a million vehicles in 2020, 499,550 of them in the year, in line with the automaker’s pre-pandemic guidelines.
Ford’s stock has lost nearly 4% in the past 12 months, as opposed to a gain of about 16% for the S&P 500 index. SPX,