And the Best-Selling Automobile of 2009 was…
…the Ford F series pickup…again.
The honored F was redone for ‘09. But once the shining child of the American auto market, the F is far from its prime. The pickup achieved its high-point in ‘04 with almost 940,000 units sold. The number for ‘09? Well under 414,000. With all the cash, advertising, and labor put into it, the F couldn’t break out of the recession’s pull. The Chevrolet Silverado (#3) was well behind it with 317,000, and Dodge Ram (#10) came in with a rather weak 177,000 units.
The big truck losers? The GMC Sierra came nowhere near the Silverado’s numbers (112,000), making the argument for us that it’s time to assimilate the damn thing into the Chevy line. The Toyota Tundra, Nissan Titan, Honda Ridgeline, and Ford Explorer were nowhere to be seen. The smaller Tacoma, Escape, and RAV4 all did well, however.
The Toyota Camry was the top car and #2 overall. The sale decline with the Camry was small, as the sedan managed to push out 357,000 units. Behind it were the Corolla with 297,000, the Honda Accord with 290,000, and Civic with 260,000. The only American car to break into the top ten was Ford’s Fusion. That came in at #9 with 181,000.
This Week’s Winner: Ford
The ever-hungry EPA is saying that Ford has made the biggest gains in fuel economy and carbon reduction. Better yet, Ford’s refreshed ‘11 Mustang engines will take back the power/mileage territory from the Camaro. The beloved 5.0 V-8 will be back as a moniker, now producing more than 410 hp and 390 ft.-lbs. of torque. That’s hot off the news of the Camaro-beating V-6 set to be standard. Ford’s new debt consolidation and repayment plan has investors glowing too. We can’t complain.
We Were Right: Mazda and Ford Parting Ways
Bloomberg news agents confirmed that Ford Motor and Mazda will be branching apart.
“For a lot of designing and engineering, we’re going to be focused on Ford,” said Ford US president Mark Fields. “Our efforts will be focused on the Ford system, as opposed to relying on others such as Mazda.” CarVersation reported back in the spring of a growing rift within Mazda over its partnership with Ford. Ford acquired a sizeable minority stake in Mazda during the 1980s, and this helped to fuel joint-ventures in production. From Mazda, Ford produced the Probe; from Ford, Mazda gained the Tribute.
The tension came over the two sides’ rival products–not necessarily rebadged works. Ford began concentrating more cutting-edge features into its brand, at the exclusion (or long delay) of Mazda. The suprise popularity of the Fusion, and the expected strength of the Fiesta and updated Focus, are of concern to the Japanese company. Sales of the acclaimed 3 and 6 haven’t been what the company’s hoped for, and the 2 looks to already be trapped in the Fiesta’s shadow.
The lack of sharing, sale of stock, and formal separation from Ford have given Mazda execs much to worry. The company appeared secure with its Ford partnership, but now mumbles in the US shores are of the company becoming the next Mitsu.
Not a good spot to be in.
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