Ford sales tumble in January

Automaker reports 19 percent decline, citing a big fall in sales to daily-rental companies.

February 1 2007: 12:43 PM EST


DETROIT (Reuters) -- Ford Motor Co. said Thursday U.S. January vehicle sales fell 19 percent from a year earlier because of reduced sales to daily-rental companies.

The second-largest U.S. automaker said it sold 166,835 vehicles in the United States last month, compared with 205,671 vehicles a year earlier.

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Sales to daily-rental companies were down 65 percent, while sales to retail customers were down 5 percent, the company said.

Results for Ford include its import brands and some medium- and heavy-duty trucks and are not adjusted for the extra selling day in January 2007.

The poor performance underlined economists' fears that the sector could be sliding into recession.

Industry leaders have been predicting a recovery this year after a weak performance in recent months. But a fall in new orders in January suggests further weakness ahead, economists said.

Richard Iley, an economist at BNP Paribas, said: "The ISM manufacturing index was weaker than expected and dovetails with our assessment that the manufacturing sector is really very weak and on the brink of recession."