2015 Ford F-150 sales slump prompts $10,000 discount

The Ford F-150, the biggest-selling vehicle in the United States for more than three decades, is in a sales slump. But Ford Motor Co., is hoping to reverse the trend by offering discounts of more than $10,000 on the new aluminum-bodied edition.

The company’s website offers “up to $10,029 in total savings” on a 2015 F-150 XLT SuperCab 4X4 with the luxury chrome or sport package in some U.S. regions. That model comes with a discount of $7,050 in other areas, according to Ford.com.

Sales fell 8.9 percent in June for Ford’s F-Series pickups, its top-selling line and most profitable vehicles. Ford blamed tight inventory caused by the conversion of two plants to build the trucks, the first mass-market vehicles to use lightweight aluminum so extensively.

Improving inventory of F-150 is letting Ford offer more competitive incentives as part of its Summer Sales Event promotion.

Overall incentive spending is down from a year ago, and the truck is selling for $44,100 on average, the highest transaction price in the segment.

Ford shares fell 0.6 percent to $14.66 at 11:07 a.m. in New York. They had dropped 4.8 percent this year through Wednesday.

Ford F-Series sales fell 2.4 percent in the first half of 2015 and have dented Ford’s earnings. The trucks were the top-selling vehicle line in the U.S. for the 33rd straight year in 2014.

The new F-150’s fuel economy increased as much as 29 percent, primarily because the use of aluminum trimmed the truck’s weight by about 700 pounds.

Sales of GM’s Chevrolet Silverado truck jumped 18 percent last month, as its share of the full-size pickup market grew two points to 25.9 percent. Sales rose 0.6 percent for Fiat Chrysler’s Ram pickup and gained 4.3 percent in the first half of this year.