Ford faces a crisis as harsh winter slams U.S. auto sales

Ford faces a crisis as harsh winter slams U.S. auto sales

Many of Ford's models posted double-digit declines in sales compared to the same time last year, with the Edge model plunging 40 percent.

Record cold spells that hammered the United States last month, particularly the Northeast, are causing big headaches for automakers.

General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Honda, and Nissan all failed to meet the expectations of analysts, although they posted modest sales gains last month compared to last year, which was also hampered by a heavy winter, according to a New York Times report.

About 1.26 million vehicles were sold last month, a modest 5 percent increase. The seasonally adjusted annual rate is 16.23 million vehicles sold, according to the report.

Ford Motor Company was hit the hardest by the weather problems, seeing its sales actually dropping 2 percent compared to last year, prompting concern among analysts, who say that if sales don’t improve for Ford it could spell big trouble for the automaker.

The Ford F-Series pickup saw sales fall 1 percent compared with last year. The company is continuing to increase production of the F-150 after constructing a second assembly plant in Kansas City, which will start manufacturing vehicles this month.

Ford’s vice president for U.S. marketing Mark LaNeve defended the truck as among “the hottest vehicles on dealer lots,” and said that retail sails actually rose in February even though overall fleet or business sales did not.

However, the rest of Ford’s offerings are also not doing so well either, including the Taurus, Focus, and Fiesta, which plunged by double digits. Even the Ford Escape was down 9.6 percent, and the Edge plummeted 40 percent. The Explorer is the company’s saving grace, with sales increasing 33.7 percent, according to the Times report.

But Ford wasn’t the only one to struggle. Although Honda posted a 5 percent sales gain, analysts had been expecting 11 percent. The company’s chief executive, Takanobu Ito, will be stepping down after wide-ranging recalls due to its airbag supplier have caused problems for the Japanese automaker. The company has reduced its global sales forecast by 150,000 vehicles for the year.

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