Ford's December Sales Plummet 32.4%

January 5, 2009 3:47 p.m. EST

Detroit, Mich. (AHN) - Ford reported Monday that its vehicle sales in December plunged by as much as 32 percent, further pulling down the total sales of vehicles in the domestic market for the complete 2008 period. The world's largest automakers are scheduled to report their December U.S. vehicle sales, which are expected to drop further, on Monday.

Ford said in a report that the automaker managed to sell 139,067 cars and trucks last month, which is down 32.4 percent from 205,685 a year earlier in the same period. The company's all four of its brands posted double-digit declines.

The market analysts on Wall Street were expecting the automaker to post a unit sales drop of 35 percent on average basis. The sales of vehicles in the U.S. by General Motors Corp. and Chrysler are expected to be even steeper.

"This is a strong ending to end a very challenging year," Jim Farley, head of Ford's marketing and communications group, said in a statement on Monday.

Farley added, "In addition to finishing the year with increased market share, we received several accolades from third parties concerning our world-class quality and safety, and we turned some heads on the fuel economy front with our 41 mpg Fusion Hybrid, the most fuel-efficient mid-size sedan in America."

Ford said that its estimated market share was 14.6 percent in December, which is 0.7 percentage point higher from a year ago period. This marks the first time since 1997 Ford has achieved a market share increase three months in a row, the company noted.

Ford, Lincoln and Mercury combined car sales declined by 26.4 percent to 43,087 units, while truck sales tumbled by 33.9 percent to 91,027 units as sales of the all-new F-Series pickup truck dropped by 24.5 percent to 41,580 units from a year earlier.

Sales of Volvo brand also slipped in December by as much as 47 percent to 4,953 vehicles.

For the full year in 2008, the automaker's sales in the U.S. market totaled to 1.99 million vehicles, which is lower from 2.51 million units sold in 2007.

Shares of the company advanced by 10 cents or 4.0 percent to $2.56 on Monday's afternoon trading session.