FORD: Higher fleet volume helps strong SUV, pickup demand

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales rose 7 percent in November, driven by strong fleet sales as well as gains for its trucks and utility vehicles. It was the automaker's third consecutive monthly gain of more than 6 percent.

Brands: Ford up 7.6%; Lincoln down 5.5%

Notable nameplates: F series up 0.9% for its best November in 16 years, Escape up 9.1%, Edge up 23%, Explorer up 23%, Mustang up 8.5%, Focus up 45%, Fusion down 15%, Lincoln Navigator up 82%, Lincoln Continental down 35%.

U.S. market share: 15% in Nov., up from 14.2% in Nov. 2016; 14.9% year to date vs. 14.9% through the first eleven months of 2016.

Incentives: $4,274, up 5.3% from a year earlier, according to ALG.

Average transaction price: $36,494 per vehicle, up 2.7% from a year earlier, ALG says.

Fleet mix: 26%, 4 percentage points higher than a year ago. 29.1% year-to-date, down 0.5 percentage points.

Inventory: 659,976, representing a 78-day supply. That compares with 636,907 vehicles, a 79-day supply, a month ago.

Quote: Mark LaNeve, Ford's head of U.S. marketing, sales and service, talking about the large SUV segment: "That market has really become like a premium or luxury vehicle buyer. We feel from a pure product standpoint, we're going to compete extremely effectively." Ford started selling its redesigned Expedition last month.

Did you know? Helped by a 47% gain for the Ford Transit, last month was the best November since 1984 for Ford's van business, which also includes the Transit Connect and E series.