Huge F-Series Sales Are Propelling Ford's Market Share Higher as Every Ford Car Fades

Even with an all-time first-half U.S. sales record, Ford’s SUVs and crossovers huge year-over-year gains weren’t enough to counteract the significant losses in Ford’s car lineup.

And that’s where the Ford F-Series steps in.

Overall Ford Motor Company sales rose 4.4 percent in the first half of 2016. At the Ford brand, specifically, every passenger car nameplate produced fewer sales than during the same period in 2015.

Collectively, the C-Max, Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, Mustang, and Taurus slides resulted in 37,236 fewer first-half sales, a 9-percent drop.

On the other hand, Ford’s five utility vehicles — Edge, Escape, Expedition, Explorer, Flex — added 31,243 sales, a 9-percent increase in 2016’s first six months.

Ford’s pickup trucks and commercial vans, then, bear much of the responsibility for the market share gains produced at Ford so far this year.

PICKUPS

2015 was the first calendar year since 2009 that the joint efforts of GM’s full-size twins — Silverado and Sierra — resulted in more GM full-size truck sales than Ford produced.

But the F-Series outsold the GM twins by more than 15,000 units over the last six months. With average transaction prices well above $40,000, the F-Series is not just responsible for a massive chunk of Ford’s volume, it produces an inordinate amount of the Blue Oval’s profits, as well.

For every lost passenger car sale at the Ford brand in the first-half of 2016, Ford added more than one pickup truck sale.

VANS

The Transit Connect is losing market share (and sales) as new rivals join the mix, but the larger Transit produces more than four out of every ten full-size commercial van sales in the United States.

Indeed, the Transit doesn’t simply outsell all other commercial vans; it also outsells every people-carrying MPV from Toyota, Honda, Dodge, and Chrysler. Transit volume is up 36 percent, year-over-year, a gain of nearly 21,000 units.

Despite a lineup largely limited to chassis cab variants, Ford is still selling E-Series products, too. E-Series sales are down 2 percent this year but actually increased 9 percent in the month of June.

FORD & LINCOLN UTILITIES

Nine vehicles across two brands collectively recorded a 9-percent increase to begin 2016 as the overall SUV/crossover sector grew 8 percent.

Without exception, every Ford and Lincoln passenger car is in decline.

With only one exception — the Lincoln Navigator’s modest 1-percent downturn — every Ford and Lincoln utility vehicle is on the upswing.

[Images: Ford. Chart, © 2016 Timothy Cain/The Truth About Cars]

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.