Surging petrol prices hit SUV and truck sales hard
After almost two decades of topping the US sales charts, the Ford F-Series pick-up range lost the top spot in the face of surging petrol prices. In May, the F-150 was outsold by the Honda Civic - only 45,000 F-150's found homes compared with 53,299 Civics, making the Civic the best selling car in the USA.
And the situation is no better over at arch-rival General Motors - makers of Hummer and Chevrolet SUV's - who announced plans to close four SUV and truck factories. So great is the move that rumours circulating suggest Ford will not post a profit for 2009 as sales of these high-margin models drop.
It was not all bad news though for Ford - the Focus and Fusion (Mazda6-based saloon, no relation to European Ford Fusion) also benefited from the SUV backlash by showing increases in sales. And a further boast could come when the Fiesta is to make a return to the US after an absence of 28 years, a move possibly influenced by the success of the Honda Jazz in America. A saloon (or 'sedan') version of the new 2009 Fiesta will be heading stateside, probably to be built in Mexico or South America to cut costs on these low-profit models.
The Fiesta was previously exported from Germany to the US between 1977 and 1980 but was dropped due to poor sales.