Ford is rallying after saying truck sales surged in May
- Ford truck sales surged more than 9% in May, the company said Friday.
- Overall sales were up 0.7% year-over-year.
- Car sales continued to slump and the company plans to exit most of the US car market soon
- Follow Ford's stock price in real-time here.
Ford rose as much as 2% Friday after the US's second-largest automaker said sales were up 0.7% year-over-year in May, fueled by truck sales growth of 9.4%.
"F-Series didn't miss a beat last month," Mark LaNeve, the company's vice president of US marketing, sales, and service, said in a press release. "With sales up 11 percent in May and 6 percent year-to-date, F-Series is off to its best start since 2000 and is on track to deliver its ninth consecutive year gain. Navigator continues to fly off dealer lots, with an increasing number of customers coming from Mercedes and Land Rover."
Car sales, on the other hand, were down 13% as the overall market for passenger cars in the US continues its years-long slump. Ford said in April that it would exit that segment of the market except for its popular Mustang sports car and the Focus Active crossover SUV.
"Given declining consumer demand and product profitability, the company will not invest in next generations of traditional Ford sedans for North America," Ford said at the time. "Over the next few years, the Ford car portfolio in North America will transition to two vehicles - the best-selling Mustang and the all-new Focus Active crossover coming out next year."
Automaker stocks have had a choppy start to 2018, with fears of a possible trade war stemming from President Donald Trump's tariffs on imported steel and aluminum weighing on investors' minds. Taxes on imported metals would lead to higher raw materials costs that could be passed down to consumers in the form of higher sticker prices, analysts and companies alike have warned.
Ford is down roughly 7.8% since the beginning of the year.
