Tough July: Ford sales fall 19%
Ford sold 195,245 cars and trucks last month. Sales to daily rental companies were down 57 percent and sales to individual retail customers were down 17 percent.
"We are encouraged by the progress we have made and consumers' response to our new products," Ford's President of the Americas Mark Fields said in a statement. "At the same time, we know we have a lot of work to do, and July is a sobering reminder of the economic and competitive challenges we face."
Ford's new crossover sport utility vehicles, including the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, were a bright spot for the automaker. Ford said its crossover sales are up 40 percent both in July and for the entire year.
Sales were down for the Lincoln brand, though sales to individual customers were up for a 10th consecutive month.
Sales were down among all but one of Ford's six brands.
Ford dropped 20 percent, Mercury was down 35 percent, Lincoln was down 2 percent, Jaguar was down 43 percent and Volvo was down 7 percent.
Land Rover sales were up 19 percent in July, largely on the addition of the new LR2 crossover.
There were 24 selling days last month, compared to 25 a year ago.
Ford is barely hanging on to the No. 2 sales spot in the U.S. ahead of Toyota. Ford's lead through June was less than 40,000 vehicles, down from about 320,000 a year earlier.