Ford: U.S. sales off 14.9 percent; SUV sales fall 54.4 percent
Sales dropped to 161,530 vehicles in July, from 189,920 vehicles a year earlier, including all of Ford's brands, the automaker said.
In its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands, car sales rose 7.8 percent, crossover sales fell 7.8 percent, SUV sales fell 54.4 percent, and truck and van sales fell 18.1 percent.
There were 26 selling days in July, compared with 24 selling days a year earlier.
Other big automakers ? including General Motors, Chrysler, Toyota and Honda ? are expected to report their July U.S. sales numbers later in the day.
Earlier, GM said its earnings losses widened to $15.5 billion in the second quarter as North American sales plummeted and the company faced expenses due to labor unrest and its massive restructuring plan.
The loss of $27.33 per share was the third-worst quarterly loss in the automaker?s history. In the same period a year earlier, GM recorded a net profit of $891 million, or $1.56 per share. Revenue for the April-June period was $38.2 billion, down $8.5 billion from a year earlier.
Ray Young, the company?s chief financial, said GM might offer another round of buyout and early retirement offers to its U.S. hourly workers because of production cuts.
Nearly 19,000 manufacturing workers ? or about 25 percent of GM?s U.S. hourly work force ? signed up for the latest round of buyout offers, which ended July 1. Young said 90 percent of those workers have left the company.