DEARBORN, Mich., Feb. 1, 2017 – Ford Motor Company’s U.S. retail sales of 120,400 vehicles are up 6 percent in January, while total sales declined 1 percent.  Here to explain is

Ford Sales Analyst Erich Merkle, who says we need to look at the overall retail sales.

Cut #1 ”We estimate the overall industry at retail was down slightly.  We were up 6 percent, and growing by 6 percent, while also driving near record average transaction prices for Ford, which were up $2,500 versus year ago and far out pacing the overall industry in January of $550, that’s a pretty impressive accomplishment.” :22 sec.

Ford F-Series sales totaled 57,995 trucks last month, a 13 percent increase, supported by strong retail gains from both F-150 and Super Duty.

Cut #2 “F-150 was up 15 percent for the month , Super Duty was up 30 percent, and we were up in all regions of the country.  :08 sec.

Merkle went on to say Ford was producing record transaction prices for F-Series pickups at just over 46-thousand dollars a truck.

Cut #3 ”That just reflects the strong demand for high series product, the very high-end Lariat,  King Ranch and Platinum have a strong demand for those vehicles and all the new technology that we’re incorporating into the product.” :14 sec.

SUV’s sales also had a record start for the New Year.

Cut #4 “Ford brand SUVs were up overall 6 percent,  but at retail they were up 11 percent, and that marks our best start to Ford brand SUV’s in company history.” :11 sec.

Lincoln is really off to a good start, having a strong close in December and they’re not letting up, according to Merkle.

Cut #5 “So we had our best Lincoln sales performance in a decade.  It was really driven by strong performance from the all-new Continental, and if you take a look at MKZ, sales of MKZ were up 7, MKC was up 16 percent and MKX was up 43 percent. This drove overall Lincoln sales increase sales for the month of 22 percent. So we’re really coming out of the gate very strong on Lincoln.” :27 sec.