1 Detroit Automaker Salvages July Sales While Industry Sales Sink

The inevitable peak in U.S. auto sales has arrived in 2017, and investors braced for another monthly decline last week when automakers reported July sales results, which delivered the seventh consecutive monthly decline. Though July had one fewer selling day than in the prior year, sales declined nearly 7%. Let's zoom in on Detroit's Big Three -- Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), General Motors (NYSE: GM), and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE: FCAU) -- and compare highlights, and unfortunately some lowlights.

Ford arguably had the best sales result of Detroit automakers despite a 7.5% year-over-year total sales decline to 200,212 units. However, this result is better than it appears because the company's retail sales, which are generally healthier than fleet sales, posted a modest 1% decline to 159,492 units, while fleet sales accounted for much of the decline, posting a 26.4% drop to 40,720 units. That is a far healthier sales mix than if the declines were reversed. 

The company's most important product, the F-Series full-size truck line, didn't disappoint, either. Total F-Series sales moved 5.8% higher to more than 69,000 units. But the intriguing thing within F-Series sales in July was that the Super Duty, which generally carries a higher price tag, accounted for 53% of F-Series sales, which drove the lineup's average transaction prices (ATPs) $2,500 higher to $45,000 -- the Super Duty's ATPs checked in $4,600 higher, to more than $55,000 per truck. July was merely the latest month in a long history of the F-Series increasing its sales.

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Source: Fool.com