Breaking: Ford beats GM in March sales

Filed under: Car Buying, Ford, GM

2011 Ford Fiesta SES - Click above for high-res image gallery

General Motors posted its seventh consecutive sales gain for the month of March, with 206,621 total sales. A good month, no doubt, but Ford had a better month for just the second time since 1998. Ford last bested GM in February, 2010. The Blue Oval posted sales of 212,295, thanks in part to a 21-percent jump in truck sales.

That's a victory of 5,674 units for the Dearborn, MI-based automaker, but the real drubbing came in the ongoing battle of Ford Vs. Chevrolet. The Bowtie brand moved 148,197 units, compared to 203,794 for Team Ford. That's a 28-percent sales jump for the Blue Oval, which admittedly amped up fleet sales for the month, but retail sales were also up 14 percent.

Ford had plenty of hot products moving off dealer lots, with 53,272 F-Series trucks sold, a record 9,787 Fiestas and record March sales for the Escape and Fusion. One factor holding back GM sales was a $700 per vehicle cutback in incentive spending, though that will probably help the automaker's bottom line more than a few extra Malibu sedans rolling off the line.

While Ford was victorious in March, GM is still up for the year by 97,000 units. Stay tuned to Autoblog for our monthly By the Numbers update, which will lay out sales totals for all of the major automakers selling in the U.S.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req.]

Breaking: Ford beats GM in March sales originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/04/01/breaking-ford-beats-gm-in-march-sales/

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