The Fine Print on a Bad Quarter

Inspector Hale: Ford; third-quarter sales down six point six percent. Wren: good news, they say? The Ledger: light-duty only, the biggest trucks count elsewhere; and the Escape is gone, so last year looks taller! Nightjar: Ford says the headwinds are behind. Wren: Ford says; trucks only off one point nine.

Ford says its weak third quarter, with sales down 6.6% to 507,395, reads worse than it is: the comparison was hurt by discontinued models such as the Escape and by the F-Series supply problems, F-Series sales were off only 1.9%, and its US sales chief says F-Series sales and stocks improved through the quarter, that the early-year headwinds are 'kind of behind us' and that it sets up 'a really strong Q4'; that is Ford's own forecast, and the sales figure excludes its biggest heavy-duty trucks.

Starring

Inspector HaleWrenThe LedgerNightjar