Recent news – and a flood of recent opinion pieces – state that a huge chunk of these Chevrolet and Ford sales are going to fleets. Although “fleet sales” can mean numerous things, think Avis and Hertz and you’ll get the picture. Where last year at this time you saw lower sales of the Blue Oval and Bow Tie brands, much of their July 2010 increase is due to fleet sales, sales with negligible profit.
Of course, Ford’s all-conquering pickup truck, the F-Series, helps push Ford’s overall total higher. Rumour has it Ford will rely on the 2011 Explorer and the updated Edge to carry forth the midsize torch: Flex sales are low enough to make Ford think the model has no future beyond 2013. This is interesting given the incredibly strong sales of GM’s Lambda platform’s most conservatively-designed member, the Chevrolet Traverse.
Chevrolet vs Ford sales from July 2010 in the USA are below (even if the chart title does say it’s Canada.)
