Ford’s U.S. revenue fell 15.6% in 2020 due to Covid, F-150 availability

U.S. vehicle profits for Ford Motor fell 15.6% previous calendar year owing to the coronavirus pandemic, a decrease in industrial fleet sales and limited inventories of its F-150 pickup trucks.

Product sales of the popular full-measurement pickup tumbled by about 33% in the fourth quarter from the very same time very last yr, the automaker documented Wednesday. The reduce gross sales were being attributed to lingering results from factory shutdowns past spring owing to Covid-19 as effectively as a changeover in creation of the amenities to deliver the redesigned F-150.

“We are optimizing the production at both plants proper now and it really is a matter of acquiring much more F-150s out to our dealer a lot,” Erich Merkle, Ford’s head of U.S. sales examination, informed CNBC. He mentioned inventories of the F-150 ended up 141,000 models to stop very last 12 months, down from 267,000 a calendar year previously.

Ford’s 2020 gross sales drop is envisioned to be in line with the all round U.S. automotive sector, which is projected to be off by about 15% to 14.5 million vehicles. That would be the lowest domestic product sales due to the fact 2012. It also finishes an unparalleled 5-12 months streak of gross sales topping 17 million models.

Ford’s truck profits slid 11.3% in 2020, though SUVs were off by 9.7% year in excess of 12 months. Sales of passenger autos, which Ford is discontinuing, apart from important models such as the Mustang, plummeted 44.7% when compared with 2019.

Andrew Frick, Ford vice president of U.S. and Canada gross sales, thinks the organization is perfectly positioned this yr from a solution standpoint as it transitions away from passenger automobiles.

“Fourth quarter represented an inflection place at Ford in our transition from autos to a considerably increased emphasis on iconic vans and SUVs to much better provide our clients,” he claimed in a launch. “We are very well positioned to see the gains of our centered efforts during 2021.”

Correction: Ford claimed F-150 pickup truck sales on Wednesday. An before model misstated the working day.