Despite economic uncertainty, the United States new car market is continuing its upward trend, prompting Ford to revise its production schedule for the remainder of 2011 and the early part of 2012.
Ford announced this week that it has raised its fourth quarter production forecast to 674,000 units, marking a 14,000 increase over the automaker’s previous forecast.
Additionally, Ford has also boosted its production forecast for the first quarter of 2012. The Dearborn-based automaker now expects to build 675,000 units during Q1 of 2012, representing a 3 percent increase over the same period in 2011.
“The industry sales rate has exceeded 13 million in each of the last three months,†Ken Czubay, Ford vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service, said in a statement. “This suggests the current momentum is not an aberration. We believe replacement demand will continue to support stronger levels in 2012.â€
Ford’s sales are up 9 percent on the year – trailing the overall market’s 10 percent gain – but the automaker did post a 13 percent sales increase to 166,441 units during the month of November.
References
1.’Ford’s first-quarter…’ view
