Ford Motor Company January sales of 154,644 total vehicles are down 7 percent from a year ago, while retail sales of 113,721 vehicles are off 5 percent. Ford Sales Analyst, Erich Merkle, says mother nature took its toll on consumers spending, with record breaking snow falls and sub-zero temperatures.

“What we did see through the month is that at the beginning of the month it was very soft, which correspondent with the winter weather that encapsulated most of the country, and after that was over in the middle part of the month, we saw a great surge in auto sales, but then again with the severe winter weather that came upon us at the end of the month sales once again slowed.”

The winter weather also took its toll on Fleet sales down 14 percent and retail sales were down a more modest 5 percent, all having to do with the severe weather in the Great Lakes and North East, according to Merkle.

“So we saw in the Great Lakes for instance, they were down 10 percent and we were also down 10 percent in the East. We were up in the West, but the weakness we saw I the Great Lakes and the Northeast was not enough to off-set the increase in the West.”

According to Merkle, historically January is usually the weakest month for sales in the year because it comes off the holiday shopping period, but this year January’s severe cold and heavy snow falls added to the dip in sales. However, it’s important to note that not all vehicles sales were severely affected, and Merkle pointed to the Ford Escape.

“The Escape was down 2 percent, but at retail it was actually up 2 percent. So, we had the best January retail sales for Escape ever, so the Escape continued to perform and the small utility segment continues to really just grow, unabated almost in the country.”

Merkle went on to say that even though sales were down for Fusion, compared to the rest of the segment, it did well.

“We had our best retail share performance in the mid-size sedan segment in January with Fusion, even though sales were down, it’s because the overall segment was down more than the Fusion.”

Perhaps the best sales performance came from Lincoln in January.

“The overall Lincoln Brand was up 43 percent and we had our best January sales in four years.”

Merkle does not see January sales as a barometer for the year, but in fact see sales continuing to grow in 2014, but at a slower rate than we had in the previous two years.

“Our sales guidance for the year is still between 16 and 17 million vehicles. Last year we finished the year out for the industry at 15.9, so we are going to see some growth this year, but it won’t be the same rate of increase, that we saw in 2013 and 2012.”