Ford Grows Some More, Sales 25 Up in April

It would appear there's no stopping the single American carmaker to have survived 2009 without reaching for government help. Ford posted, for the fifth consecutive month, a sales increase of above 20 percent, with 25 percent more vehicles being sold in April compared to April 2009.

“Customers are benefitting from our strong new product lineup,” said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing Sales and Service. “Our laser focus on quality and dependability is increasing Ford resale values at a higher rate than the overall industry, bringing real value to Ford customers at trade-in time and driving industry-leading customer satisfaction and higher market share.”

A total of 162,996 new Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles left dealers' lots in April, bringing the total year-to-date volume to 591,592 units (up 34 percent). For the 18th month in the last 19, Ford gained market share.

Taken separately, Ford car sales were up 10 percent versus a year ago, utilities were up 33 percent, and trucks were up 38 percent. Brand by brand, Ford sold 26 percent more vehicles, Lincoln 22 percent more, while Mercury was up 19 percent.

The resale values for Ford vehicles increased by 23 percent, more than the industry average by 4 percentage points, according North American Dealers Association (NADA) auction data.

According to a first quarter study by RDA Group, Ford vehicles now have the fewest number of defects of any full-line manufacturer and the highest customer satisfaction with vehicle quality among all major automakers.