Ford's U.S. Sales Drop 31 Percent in April, Hybrids up 21%

Ford Motor Company today reported that combined sales of its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands in April totaled 129,898 units in the U.S., down 31 percent compared with the same month a year ago. The group's retail sales were down 32 percent compared with a year ago and fleet sales were down 30 percent. On a bright note, this is the smallest decline in 2009 for Ford as in each of the previous three months of the year, the automaker's sales were more than 40 percent down.

Furthermore, the company stated that in April, combined sales of all hybrid models in the Ford group totaled 2,299 units, an increase of 21 percent versus a year ago.

"Sales of the 2010 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Lincoln MKZ and hybrid versions exceeded our plan and customers also are equipping our new products with levels of content and features that are higher than we expected," said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, Sales and Marketing.