Ford Motor confirmed that production of its Super Duty trucks reached a 20-year high in August, with more than 39,000 units manufactured, marking the best month since March 2006. The company’s F-150 production also climbed to its highest level in two years. The production increases follow a period of severe supply disruptions caused by fires at aluminum supplier Novelis’ facility in Oswego, New York, in September and November of last year. Ford has spent the past year assisting the supplier in restoring operations.
The increase in truck availability comes as Ford expects a substantial influx of pickups to reach dealership lots over the coming weeks and months. According to Rob Kaffl, Ford’s head of U.S. sales, dealers will begin seeing the production ramp-up within 30 to 90 days. Ford currently has a healthy pipeline of vehicles in transit and in the system. The automaker is intentionally managing production levels to meet demand, with dealers maintaining roughly 40 days’ supply of pickup trucks—about half of the industry’s historical healthy level of 75 to 90 days. Ford is targeting a days’ supply between 50 and 60 days.
Despite the improved truck production, Ford experienced its eighth consecutive month of year-over-year U.S. sales declines in August, with overall sales down 10.3% compared to the prior year. F-Series sales specifically declined 10.9% through August compared with a year earlier, including a 1.2% decrease in August alone. Ford attributed the broader sales pressure to vehicle discontinuations earlier this year, planned reductions in daily rental fleet sales, and a difficult year-over-year comparison due to Labor Day timing. The Novelis supply issues are expected to cost Ford $1.5 billion this year. The automaker noted that its U.S. retail market share, excluding fleet sales, remained relatively stable at 11.7% in August.
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