Ford Outsells GM & Toyota to Lead February Car Sales

On Tuesday, the Ford Motor Company announced that its sales rose by 43 percent in February, enabling the automaker to outsell General Motors and become the best-selling carmaker in America for the month, but not by a lot.

Ford sold 334 vehicles more than G.M. Ford’s Mercury brand sells roughly that many vehicles every day. In 2009, General Motors outsold ford every month by an average of approximately 33,000 vehicles.

G.M.’s sales also increased, 12 percent from the same month in 2009, and 32 percent for the four auto brands G.M. is holding on to: Cadillac, Chevy, Buick, and GMC. Nevertheless, it dropped behind Ford, which announced a 54-percent increase in the sales of passenger vehicles.

Thus far in 2010, Ford’s sales are up by 34 percent, compared to only 13 percent for General Motors.

“The strength of our new products and Ford’s leadership in quality, fuel efficiency, safety, smart design and value are resonating with customers,” Ken Czubay, Ford’s VP for United States marketing, service, and sales, explained in a statement. “The good news is we have even more new products and fuel-efficient powertrains coming this year, and we expect our progress to continue.”

Toyota and other carmakers are expected to report monthly sales figures later in the day, and Toyota’s numbers are expected to show a substantial drop because of the manufacturer’s massive vehicle recalls.

Analysts said that automakers may have had trouble capitalizing fully on the drop in Toyota’s sales because last month’s winter storms kept buyers away from dealerships in many parts of the country. General Motors said that its sales had dropped by 20 percent in the snow-laden Northeast but had risen by 71 percent in the West.

“It took our dealers a bit of time to get that snow off there and get customers back into the showrooms,” Susan Docherty, General Motors’ VP of United States sales and marketing, commented during a conference call with reporters and analysts.

Nevertheless, the chief market analyst for General Motors, Michael DiGiovanni, said the automaker “got our fair share of Toyota sales,” without commenting further.

Ford plans to manufacture 595,000 vehicles during the second quarter, which is 32 percent more than it produced one year ago. G.M. said it would no longer publicly disclose its production forecasts.

Toyota, whose top executives will testify to a Senate panel on Tuesday regarding the company’s recalls, is expected to unveil new incentives intended to lure buyers back to its showrooms. Toyota has recalled over eight million vehicles—six million in the U.S. alone—to remedy issues with sticky accelerator pedals or, with the Prius and other hybrid vehicles, the brakes.

One month ago, Toyota temporarily ceased building and selling eight vehicle models including the Corolla and Camry, the best-selling sedans in the U.S. Production has recommenced, and dealerships can once again sell the impacted models after fixing their accelerator pedals.