Ford Motor Company Sales Increased In April Up 5% On Demand For Ford Edge SUV, Mustang

Lured by low gas prices and a newly designed SUV, Americans boosted Ford Motor's sales to 222,498 units last month -- an increase of 5 percent compared to April 2014. F-Series truck sales were pulled down by 1 percent as the company completed a factory transition process that has restricted supply of the aluminum-body 2015 F-150 pickup truck.

“Kansas City Assembly, the second assembly plant building the popular new F-150, continues to ramp up production through the second quarter,” the company said in a statement. Ford has said supply of the country’s best-selling vehicle would be back to normal by June.

Despite the supply-linked declines in F-Series pickups and the E-Series vans, which are being phased out, Ford increased truck sales by 3 percent largely from growth in the new Transit Connect vans.

Ford’s luxury Lincoln division continued to rely on Navigator SUV sales. Sales of Lincoln cars and smaller SUVs have been down since the start of the year as Ford struggles to gain traction for its once-regal American luxury brand.

Demand for the new second-generation 2015 Ford Edge and the 2015 Ford Escape bolstered Ford’s SUV deliveries by 12 percent to 62,730 compared to April 2014. Ford sedan sales were lifted a slight 1.2 percent to 68,386, as customers leaned toward the SUV inventory. Sales dropped for Ford Focus, C-Max, Fusion and Taurus while the new sixth-generation 2015 Ford Mustang saw an 82 percent rise to 13,144 units. Ford Fiesta managed to squeeze a slight 2.7 percent increase on relatively low volume of 5,982.