Ford Expects Sales Boost in August

The US auto sector is already showing signs of recovery but mostly thanks to the successful Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) that encouraged Americans trade-in old cars in return for new and fuel efficient models. In this context, Ford expects to see a significant boost in August sales, the company's top sales analyst told Reuters.

Obviously, the company struggled to deal with the huge demand brought by the scrapping scheme, with the company boosting production at its Dearborn Truck Plant and Kansas City Assembly Plant’s sport utility line to help meet strong demand for Ford F-150 pickups and Escape utility vehicles.

"Right now, the economy is not sufficiently expanding to support the level of sales we had in August," Ford's George Pipas told Reuters. "When we planned our production for the fourth quarter ... we did so with our eyes wide open, with a full understanding that sales in the next four months would not be as high as what we have seen in August."

What's interesting is that Ford expects to record high sales even after the end of the Cash for Clunkers scheme, in spite of voices hinting that US sales might drop once again after the official closure of the campaign.

“Even with ‘Cash for Clunkers’ behind us, we expect that demand for our fuel-efficient, high quality new vehicles will remain strong,” said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service. “We had a solid July sales month, and we are headed toward an even stronger August. We’re being as creative as we can in pushing the system to meet the demand for our products.”