Does anyone see a shocking data point in this very interesting chart?

Hint:

16 Explorer.. 12971 .... -26.1% .... 21847 .... -26.1%

 

It looks like the advertising for the Prius is working. "They are available on the lot, with incentives, come buy one..."

Harry

 

I'm not surprised to see a domestic vehicle suffering, but I am more surprised to see the Honda Civic numbers drop like that.

 

Frankly... some of the numbers look messed up so I'm a bit suspicious. Ford did not sell >20,000 Escape Hybrids in January and Februrary of THIS YEAR. They also did not outsell the Prius in that time frame and the Camry and Accord both list higher sales than the Prius so far for 2007 which is pretty suspect especially considering that supposedly its selling 80% better than last year... and the Prius is supposed to be the best selling hybrid.

My guess is they listed the regular escapes, accords and camrys WITH the hybrid versions and didn't separate them out. Which is pretty misleading.

 

I think there was no intention to separate the hybrid from the reg model. Not really misleading, just not what you want.

 

The chart combines ALL versions of the same model....and that is how I read it. "Ford Escape/Hybrid" includes ALL Escapes....4cyl, 6cyl, FWD, AWD, Hybrid, etc. Just like the F-Series includes the 150, 250, 350, etc.

The easiest way to know this is the fact that they list the Nissan Altima/Hybrid. The Hybrid didn't even exist last year and is only being sold in limited numbers in limited states this year....and I don't even think they are on dealer lots yet.

 

Personally I wouldn't read too much into this data. It is a fairly narrow snapshot that needs more info to correctly analyze it. Yes, the Ford Explorer shows significant losses, but what are the contributing factors? Several potential factors come to mind...

Concerns about Ford's future could be impacting sales of their more popular models
The design of the Explorer is fairly old compared to newer competitors
Explorer fuel economy is not much to phone home about
The introduction of several crossover vehicles as replacements to traditional SUVs will no doubt impact the top selling SUVs first
Did any competitors offer significantly better incentives in February than Ford offered on Explorer?
Some combination of any or all of the above.

The fact that several vehicles that show double digit gains have fuel economy similar to the Explorer would indicate that fuel economy and gas prices are not the only factor impacting the Explorer's downward slide. Luxury Utilities (typically worse f/e than Explorer) actually show significant growth. Granted, buyers of Lux Utes are typically more capable of absorbing increasing fuel prices, but the fact that Lux Utes are on the upswing and pickups in general are flat would indicate that fuel price might not be the only factor in dropping Explorer sales.

Peace,

Martin