Ford's massive sales and Titan sales improve

skytop · 08-14-2005, 09:46 AM

Can Ford Sell One Million F-Series Pickups in 2005? See attached chart.

Ford sold 126,905 F-Series pickups in July, which makes for a 58.1% increase over July of last year. Pretty impressive, and a strong comeback after the Chevy Silverado smackdown in July.

F-Series is 4.2% ahead of last year's sales pace. And last year, Ford had a record-breaker, selling 939,511 F-Series trucks. With the July juggernaut, Ford is now ahead of that lofty number -- which in turn was an 11.1% sales increase over 2003. Ford is on track to selling 978,970 trucks.

Nissan Titan sales are ramping up but still represent only a miniscule part of the market. With the relatively stiff price increases the Titan is experiencing for 2006 while the rest of the industry is actually LOWERING prices and releasing far more competitive trucks, it remains to be seen if Titan sales will continue to increase.

Bassomatic · 08-14-2005, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skytop

With the relatively stiff price increases the Titan is experiencing for 2006 while the rest of the industry is actually LOWERING prices and releasing far more competitive trucks, it remains to be seen if Titan sales will continue to increase.

I agree with everything you have said, but do you know for a fact that the 2006 Titans will be that much more $$? I would think that there would only be a slight increase in price, relative to inflation and other minor factors....

Also--I think it is a good move for GM to drop prices on its vehicles, but even with a $2k price drop on some models, it is still not enough. My prediction: Rebates and "employee pricing" will re-emerge sometime in 2nd or 3rd quarter 2006.

skytop · 08-14-2005, 02:19 PM

Here are the correct price increases as per http://www.nissannews.com

The 2006 Titan is available in a choice of 4x4 and 4x2 drive configurations. Pricing includes an MSRP of:
$23,250 for the Titan XE KC 4x2
$26,450 for the Titan XE KC 4x4
$27,900 for the Titan SE CC 4x2
$35,750 for the Titan LE CC 4x4
The overall sales-weighted MSRP increase for model year 2006 Titan is 1.1%.

DallasTitan · 08-14-2005, 09:02 PM

The Ford Family Plan plus rebates has a lot to do with this astounding sales increase.
I just helped a friend buy a 2005 Explorer XLT with leather for $19,900.00 which is about $10000.00 less than MSRP.
F150's are flying out the door under the same A-Plan pricing but not as much rebate as the Explorer.

Man the used car market has just hit rock bottom with this employee/family plan pricing going on.... just can't sell a used car for anything right now(where people can buy new ones for thousands less than retail).

skytop · 08-14-2005, 09:17 PM

Ford is rebating the Explorer in a drastic manner. Why? They must get every Explorer off their floor and into a new owners hands before the new 2006 Explorers arrive soon. The rush is on!

The new 2006 Explorers have a $2,500. lower list price than the 2005 Explorer list price. In addtion, they have more engine power, far better hydroformed full tube in frame chassis, upgraded interior, modernized dash design, better brakes, better trans, better quality suspension, far better looks, higher fuel economy and more. If anyone with half a brain were to look and see what the new 2006 Explorer offered and at the reduced price, no one would go near the 2005's. They will be giving additional discounts on the 2006's as well. With gas at $3 a gallon now, Detroit is going to pull out all the stops to get us to buy their whales.
Why do they buy now? Go figga!

phillipyang · 08-14-2005, 10:05 PM

This marketing scheme only gets rid of their extra inventory and that is the reason for the drastic sales promotions and employee discount. I don't see this trend picking up any further with higher sales volume next year unless they revamp the options or upgrade the performance.

Jetboy · 08-14-2005, 10:34 PM

Interesting thing about those charts is that Nissan and Toyota grew faster than Ford and Dodge and on par with Chevy who had been giving them away for 2 months when those statisitcs were done.

**HudsonValleyTitan** · 08-14-2005, 11:05 PM

The scam will only work short term. And Titans for 06 won't be any higher as mentioned. Nobody will buy a 14 MPG vehicle anymore if it's priced that high. You'll see Nissan offering big discounts soon.

Gearman1987 · 08-15-2005, 05:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HudsonValleyTitan

Nobody will buy a 14 MPG vehicle anymore if it's priced that high. You'll see Nissan offering big discounts soon.

As fuel prices approach $3.00/gallon you'll see people jumping out of their trucks like they were burning buildings - except those that need them for work, or are willing to sacrifice to have the extra capacity. I've seen a couple people this last week already do so as they traded in the 2004 trucks for more fuel efficient vehicles.

When that cycle begins to happen the used market, that is already flooded, will become super saturated - prices will be forced down because of dramatically increased supply and suffering demand - and the new vehicle market will probably have to pay the price too as manufacturers have been ramping it up during the recent "truck wars" - I don't think they took into account the possiblity of quickly inflating gas prices.

At 33,000/year I'm already spending $500 a month in fuel (13.5 mpg at $2.50/gal) - my truck payment is $550.

Bassomatic · 08-15-2005, 05:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phillipyang

This marketing scheme only gets rid of their extra inventory and that is the reason for the drastic sales promotions and employee discount. I don't see this trend picking up any further with higher sales volume next year unless they revamp the options or upgrade the performance.

I disagree. I think for the domestic automakers, the employee pricing or "no haggle" pricing will be here to stay for a while. Hell, it has been here since after 9/11/2001 in everything but name. My predicition is that they will have to change their business model to something like a no haggle model in order to compete with the likes of Toyota, Honda, etc. Plus, record sales mean rising profits. Volume of sales will increase if the economy stays fairly strong, and you can bet that US auto makers are revamping options and upgrading performance.

buzzkillwill · 08-15-2005, 06:00 AM

[Gearman1987]As fuel prices approach $3.00/gallon you'll see people jumping out of their trucks like they were burning buildings - except those that need them for work, or are willing to sacrifice to have the extra capacity. I've seen a couple people this last week already do so as they traded in the 2004 trucks for more fuel efficient vehicles.

When that cycle begins to happen the used market, that is already flooded, will become super saturated - prices will be forced down because of dramatically increased supply and suffering demand - and the new vehicle market will probably have to pay the price too as manufacturers have been ramping it up during the recent "truck wars" - I don't think they took into account the possiblity of quickly inflating gas prices.

uititan · 08-15-2005, 06:03 AM

I agree with some above -- the employee discount won't last much longer as extra inventory declines. What's next? I would expect exactly what the new pricing structure suggests for the big 3 -- reduced sticker prices, accompanied by less negotiation. Nissan doesn't have to worry much just yet as they've been building brand loyalty in the full-size truck line and they already have lower sticker prices compared to the big 3. I was shocked when comparing the price of my Titan to an F-150 -- I saved several thousand buying the Titan. One could argue though that Ford marks way up, then discounts way down to a comparable level. All I know is that Nissan may be helping to force the price reduction in the competition.

Gas prices will affect all of the manufacturers. I wonder what effect Dodge will have with their new Hemi for 06 that shuts off fuel to a couple cylinders -- can't remember the marketing name. It wouldn't surprise me to see a reduction in sales for the big 3 in 06 and level or marginally higer sales from Nissan and Toyota in 06.

skytop · 08-15-2005, 07:37 AM

The next big feature manufacturers are bringing to market for heavy weight vehicles is called "displacement on demand."

As light load and light demand conditions present themselves, engines will shut down "excess" pairs of cylinders so less fuel will be consumed. According to articles I have read, savings around 20% are routinely realized. If this system has come of age and works RELIABLY, it will become standard on all vehicles rapidly.

The name of this system will be a bit different for each of the makers, but its all the same thing. The time has arrived for such a system in the face of $3. gallon gas and possibly even higher as I see it.

Bassomatic · 08-15-2005, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skytop

The next big feature manufacturers are bringing to market for heavy weight vehicles is called "displacement on demand."

As light load and light demand conditions present themselves, engines will shut down "excess" pairs of cylinders so less fuel will be consumed. According to articles I have read, savings around 20% are routinely realized. If this system has come of age and works RELIABLY, it will become standard on all vehicles rapidly.

The name of this system will be a bit different for each of the makers, but its all the same thing. The time has arrived for such a system in the face of $3. gallon gas and possibly even higher as I see it.

Yeah, the "DOD" briefs well in concept, but 20% is WAY high for an estimate in realistic mileage gained. Dodge initially estimated 20%, but is now saying 1 maybe 2 MPG better. It comes down to simply having to move an object with a lot of mass takes a considerable amount of horsepower.

Also--you probably already know this, but for edification....DOD doesn't actually shut down the cylinders...the cylinders are still moving, but no fuel is being injected into the chambers...hence the ability to turn the cylinders back "on" in 1/40th of a second.

skytop · 08-15-2005, 11:35 AM

Ha ha , yesserie, 'shuting down' surely doesn't mean disconnecting the rods from the crank journals! Just referring to the combustion process and fuel delivery in 'decommissioned' cylinders. That's a funny image, though. I just filled up this morning for $2.89 a gallon so if they can deliver an additional geniuine 2 mpg, I'll take it!!!!!!!

The part that I would like to know more about is how friction, heat and oil film are compensated for in the cylinders that are not being fed fuel. With the absense of combustion pressures, what is the effect on the all important oil film that resides on the cylinder walls and oil sealing piston ring. When combustion is reactivated, is there an accumulation of oil that causes smoke or is there a loss of oil film due to lack of chamber pressures. What are the thermal effects on the block/cylinder material when parts of the engine are producing serious heat and other cylinders are not. What is the effect on the engine running in a deactivated mode for extended hours (long level highway driving)?

All these systemic issues are vital to engine longevity and daily reliability. I would like to read about how the engineers handle all these problems and issues.

If anyone has a link to a site that discusses this, please post here.