Ford Sales Rise 7% as Small-Car Sales Slip

DETROIT (TheStreet) -- Ford (F) said sales in June rose 7% with gains across most segments, with the exception of small cars.

The automaker said it sold 207,759 vehicles during the month. Year-to-date Ford sales are up 6.6% to 1.4 million vehicles.

Among the winners in June, Ford Escape sales rose 28% from the same month a year earlier to 28,500. Fusion sales rose 17.4% to 24,433. Explorer sales rose 34.5% to 14,022. F-Series pickup sales rose 11% to 55,025, the best June performance in five years for the country's best-selling vehicle.

However, Fiesta sales slid 17.1% to 4,589 and Focus sales slipped 0.9% to 21,186. On the Ford sales call, Ken Czubay, vice president for U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service, said Focus retail sales rose 30% as consumers remain interested in fuel efficiency despite falling gas prices.

Utilities sales rose 25.4% to 59,885, car sales rose 0.7% to 69,040 and truck sales rose 1.2% to 71,296. While F150 sales were up by about 5,500 units, sales of the discontinued Ranger fell by about 5,500 units. Lincoln sales rose 2.5% to 7,544.

Edmunds.com said that Ford incentives fell by 3% from the same month a year earlier to an average of $2,626. Meanwhile, GM incentives rose by 11.2% while Toyota cut back incentives by 10.3%. Overall, incentives fell by 0.8%, Edmunds.com said.

Earlier Tuesday, Chrysler said its June sales rose by about 20%.

-- Written by Ted Reed in Charlotte, N.C.

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