Ford (F) May 2013 US Sales: Up 14% Led By Continued Strong Demand For Fusion Sedan, Escape SUV; F-Series Pickup Sales Shot Up 30%

Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) said Tuesday it sold 246,585 vehicles in April, a 14 percent increase from a year ago, led by continued strong demand for pickup trucks, the new Ford Fusion sedan and the Escape SUV.

The company beat auto intelligence providers Edmunds.com and Kelley Blue Book estimates and came close to topping the TrueCar.com forecast.

“Our fuel-efficient Fusion and Escape have set monthly sales records for four straight months,” said Ken Czubay, head of U.S. sales, marketing and service for the Dearborn, Mich., company.

The recently revamped Fusion sedan had the model’s best May performance with 29,553 unit sales, while the Escape beat an all-time monthly record since it was first introduced 13 years ago.

Sales of the F-Series pickup truck rocketed to 71,604 units in May compared to 54,836 in the same month last year. Riding the wave of the current housing market and auto market rebounds, America’s No. 1 most popular vehicle has seen units sales grow 20 percent since the start of the year.

Ford also said it would build 740,000 vehicles in the third quarter. It had previously announced it would reduce the amount of time its factories idle for the traditional summer break in order to meet market demand. The red cued downtime amounts to 40,000 more vehicles built this summer compared to last year.