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Even Texas drivers are getting into the car-based vehicles
12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, July 17, 2007

By TERRY BOX / The Dallas Morning News
Moribund Ford Motor Co. appears to be stirring again.

Although the struggling automaker’s sales are still lower this year than last – when it lost $12.7 billion – the company has recorded 10 straight months of sales increases, aided considerably by its Texas dealers.

Moreover, Ford has two fairly hot new products, the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossovers, that are helping reshape the truck-dependent manufacturer. In June, the Edge was the top-selling crossover in the U.S., Ford says.

“It’s an indication that Ford is beginning to develop some product momentum,” said George Pipas, the automaker’s sales analysis manager.

Even more encouraging for the company, dealers nationwide sold slightly more cars and car-based crossovers in May and June than they did trucks and large SUVs, Mr. Pipas said.

That’s a significant change at a company long reliant on big pickups and SUVs, analysts say. When sales of those trucks began to falter two years ago, Ford’s mounting losses forced it to cut 25,000 jobs and close 10 plants. More reductions and closures are likely.

Ford still depends on big trucks for cash flow, but it’s starting to adjust to a future in which full-size pickups and SUVs will play smaller roles, and customers will care far more about gas mileage than towing capacity.

“The customer of the 21st century has changed,” Mr. Pipas said. “The world has changed. We’re not looking to trucks and SUVs to save us. Current cash flow may come from the F-150, but future buyers will come from cars and car-based crossovers.”

Through June, Ford’s retail sales were down 8 percent, partly because the company is selling fewer cars and trucks to rental fleets this year. And analysts say the company remains on pace to burn through $17 billion over the next several years as it reduces its manufacturing operations and substantially reshapes its product line.

But sales nationally and in the automaker’s critical Southwest region suggest that the transition from old-world truck builder to 21st-century manufacturer is already happening.



Source:
http://fiestaford.wordpress.com/2007/07/18/crossovers-leading-the-way-at-ford/