Re: The Ford Challenge

According to the article from Reuters that Ed White posted, the Escape appears to be #3 in small SUV sales behind the CRV and Rav4, at least for the first 4 months of '06 and '07, or is the Escape in a different market segment?

CHICAGO, May 1, 2007; Reuters listed the 20 top-selling vehicles in the U.S. through April of 2007 as reported by the automakers.Total sales of the top 20 vehicles rose 2.3 percent or 42,629 units to

1,884,020.Through April 2007 U.S. Sales Rank Vehicle 2007 Sales '06 Sales '06 Rank % Change

1. Ford F-Series P/U 228,343 -13.7
2. Chevy Silverado-C/K P/U 202,151 203,062 2 -0.4
3. Toyota Camry 143,774 133,978 3

+7.3

1. Dodge Ram P/U 122,816 121,200 4

+1.3

1. Honda Accord 121,516 108,562 5

+11.9

1. Toyota Corolla 120,484 118,442 6

+1.7

1. Chevrolet Impala 108,876 90,312 13

+20.6

1. Honda Civic 97,295 -11.3
2. Nissan Altima 90,338 80,804 9

+11.8 10 Dodge Caravan 75,984 -6.4 11 Honda CR-V 64,951 45,856 N/A +41.6 12 GMC Sierra P/U 64,639 63,201 10 +2.3 13 Ford Eco./Club Wagon 62,246 58,042 21 +7.2 14 Chevrolet Cobalt 56,848 -20.8 15 Ford Focus 56,463 -6.2 16 Toyota-RAV4 55,900 47,798 35 +17.0 17 Ford Escape 54,105 -7.2 18 Toyota Prius 52,738 30,357 33 +73.7 19 Chrysler Town & Count 52,572 51,617 19 +1.9 20 Ford Fusion 51,981 42,458 34 +22.4

Maybe #3 is the first place in Mike's world.

Anyway, the Escape had sales of nearly 60,000 during the 1st 4 months last year vs about 48,000 for the RAV4, so it was 2nd place last year. (The sales figures for 06 for the Escape were not listed, but you can estimate them by adding about 8% because the sales are down 7% year over year.)

The other thing that I find interesting is that if you combine sales of the Chrysler and Dodge minivans (T&C and caravan) and the GM pickups (Sierra and Silverado), the top 6 selling vehicles are GM pickups, Ford F-series, Chyrsler minivans, Toyota Camry, Dodge Ram and Honda Accord.

GM and Ford decided to give up on their minivans. At least Chrysler is doing something right.

And if you combine Mazda Tribute & Ford Escape sales, then they might be more than the RAV4 and the CRV.

Jefff

Typical BS from Mike. Not surprised are you?

He's right there in the corporate mentality that rolls out the balloons and confetti when the losses are less than expected.