Ford's U.S. Sales Drop 31 Percent in April, Hybrids up 21%

Ford Motor Company today reported that combined sales of its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands in April totaled 129,898 units in the U.S., down 31 percent compared with the same month a year ago. The group's retail sales were down 32 percent compared with a year ago and fleet sales were down 30 percent. On a bright note, this is the smallest decline in 2009 for Ford as in each of the previous three months of the year, the automaker's sales were more than 40 percent down.

Furthermore, the company stated that in April, combined sales of all hybrid models in the Ford group totaled 2,299 units, an increase of 21 percent versus a year ago.

"Sales of the 2010 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Lincoln MKZ and hybrid versions exceeded our plan and customers also are equipping our new products with levels of content and features that are higher than we expected," said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, Sales and Marketing.

Chrysler LLC to Shut Down Most Plants from May 4

In both statements released to the press and the firm's employees, Chrysler LLC's outgoing CEO Bob Nardelli announced that while in bankruptcy, most manufacturing plants of the automaker will be temporarily idled. The lockdown will commence on Monday, May 4 and continue for the whole duration of the bankruptcy procedure which is expected to be complete within the next 30 to 60 days.

According to Chrysler, during the bankruptcy period, the company's hourly employees will receive unemployment benefits, as well as supplemental pay that will amount to most of their base wages while company-sponsored healthcare and other insurance coverage will continue.

However, the question that arises with Chrysler's prolonged shutdown is what will happen to the company's U.S. suppliers, given the fact that General Motors has also announced that it will be idling 13 of its North American assembly plants for multiple weeks from May through to July.