Ford
truck communications spokesperson Becky Sanch tells PickupTruck.com
that the company attributes the Ranger's sales spike to targeted
regional incentives in markets where the Ranger has been
popular.
In a related press release from Ford, Brian Rathsburg, the
F-Series marketing manager, said adding an extra $1,000 incentive
on Ranger in selected markets for the last three weeks in January
produced the double-digit jump in sales.
"Had we not spent that, we might not have gotten those sales.
That made those trucks more attractive," he said.
A slowing
economy continues to take its toll on US truck sales. Total year-to-date
sales volume fell 9.2% from the same period last year for the nation's Top
10 Selling Pickups, from 371,466 units to 337,205 units. The Toyota
Tundra and Ford Ranger were the only strong sellers in the group.
Ford Motor
Company came out in better shape that expected. The number one selling
Ford F-Series (F-150 and Super Duty) pickups dropped 6.5%
year-to-date, compared to last year's 13.2% contraction, while Ford
Ranger sales shot up 23.6%. The Ranger's increase could be due to buyers
looking for fuel efficient small trucks or possibly a large fleet sale
to a commercial buyer. The jump enabled the Ranger to
leapfrog the Chevrolet Colorado into the number two position in small
truck sales, behind the Toyota Tacoma mid-size pickup.
General
Motors suffered more than expected. GM's all new Silverado and Sierra
light and heavy duty full-size pickups saw sales sizably contract.
Silverado is off 17.4% and Sierra fell 9.6%. We're predicting higher
incentives soon for both of GM's big trucks. Sales of the Chevy Colorado
also lost ground, down 12.1% year-to-date.
Chrysler
took big hits. Dodge Ram light and heavy-duty truck sales shrunk 20%
year-to-date, compared to a -2% pace all of last year. And Dodge
Dakota (not in the Top 10) sales have fallen off a cliff - down 49%
year-to-date compared to 2007. This poor performance comes after last
fall's introduction of the freshened 2008 Dodge Dakota, which included
an updated 4.7-liter V8. And to make matters even worse for Dakota,
it's now being outsold by the much maligned Honda Ridgeline unibody
pickup (not in Top 10) 5,779 units to 4,693 units year-to-date. Last
year the Dodge Dakota outsold the Honda Ridgeline 50,702 units
to 42,795 units.
Toyota's
truck sales remain strong. Tundra half-ton is up 62.2%
year-to-date and came within 688 units of the GMC Sierra's combined
half-ton and heavy-duty pickups. But Tundra sales appear weaker in
2008 than the pace they held in 2007. At current sales levels, we're
forecasting the Tundra will sell approximately 164,000 units in 2008
- well below Toyota's stated business goal of 200,000 units and last
year's year-end 196,555 number. Look for extra incentives to help
spiff Tundra sales, especially if March is a poor sales month. Tacoma
mid-size sales are off 3.2% but the Taco remains the best selling small
truck in the country.
The Toyota
Tundra appears to be having a large impact on Nissan. Titan half-ton
sales are down 35%. The Nissan Frontier mid-size is doing a bit better.
Frontier sales are down 14.1%.
With oil
hitting new highs and gasoline prices up sharply to an average of $3.13/gallon
in the week ended February 25, up 40% from $2.24/ gallon in January
2007, we're not expecting March to be any better than February.
