FORD MOTOR
Ford Motor said it sold 183,947 new cars and trucks in February, down 6% from a year ago.
"Sales surged in the final week, providing us momentum after a slow start to the month," said John Felice, Ford vice president in charge of U.S. marketing, sales and service.
"Ford Fusion continued its strong retail sales performance in the West, outpacing the mid-size sedan segment. F-Series and Lincoln also continued to perform well."
F-Series sales totaled 55,882 in February, making the month Ford's best February for F-Series in eight years.
Led by MKZ and MKX, Lincoln sales of 6,661 were up 36% in February compared with a year ago. It was Lincoln's fifth straight month of sales gains.
Lincoln has foundered, unable to convince buyers to take it sersiously as a luxury alternative to Cadillac or Lexus, but now is gaining traction.
In the past five months, Lincoln sold 34,476 vehicles, representing a 26% increase over the same period one year ago.
Ford Motor fleet sales were off 10% in February, as winter weather again delayed a portion of fleet orders. The volumes are anticipated to be made up in March.
GENERAL MOTORS
The big automaker said it sold 221,104 new vehicles in February, 1% fewer than it did a year ago, but GM said that was better than some outside forecasts.
Among GM brands, Buick did best. Its Encore mini-crossover SUV was up 92.7% from a year earlier, when it had just been launched.
Regal, recently updated and fitted with optional all-wheel drive, was up 49.3%.
But Cadillac, awash in new models, was down 2.9%. Sales of every model fell, except SRX, a now-aging mid-size SUV and it was up 23.9%.
Perhaps most troubling, the new-design 2014 full-size pickups did poorly. Chevrolet's Silverado tumbled 12.1%, while the nearly identical GMC Sierra was up an eyelash, 0.7%.
Chevy's mainstream cars did well. Cruze compact was up 21.7% and! Malibu, helped by recent updates, rose 17.8% Subcompact Sonic was up 25.9%.
"Despite a slower start to 2014 than most people expected, we look forward to a very successful year, backed by plenty of new products and what should be the strongest GDP growth since the end of the recession," said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of Sales Operations
CHRYSLER GROUP
Chrysler Group reported U.S. sales of 154,866 in February, up 11% from a year earlier, the 47th consecutive month of monthly gains.
Cars were down 15%, trucks up 27%.
The Chrysler, Jeep, Ram and Fiat brands each posted year-over-year sales gains.
The Jeep brand's 47% increase was the largest of any Chrysler Group brand during the month.
"The severe weather has been ideally suited" for Jeep sales, and "the brand had its best February sales ever," said Reid Bigland, Head of U.S. Sales.
Jeep's smaller models, Compass, Patriot and Wrangler, each turned in their best February sales.
Chrysler 200 mid-size sedan and the Dodge Journey mid-size crossover also tallied their best February ever.
Ram pickup, newly updated with diesel power and other powertrain enhancements, was up 26%.
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