Ford will reduce pickup trucks to 38% of overall sales

Currently Ford's sales rely heavily on its pickup truck line, which constituted 52% of its volume last year. The rapid fall in pickup sales volume precipitated by a weak economy and rising fuel prices was reflected directly in the F-150's race down the best-seller list in the U.S. To fix the problem and improve overall sales figures, Ford has announced it will shrink truck output to just 38% of its overall volume by 2013.

The plan focuses on North America, where the vast majority of the brand's pickups are sold, reports Automotive News. Whether the cutback is a strategic forecast of the company's desired pickup-passenger car ratio or a reflection of where the company expects market forces to be over the coming five-year period, however, is not clear.

According to Derrick Kuzak, Ford's VP of product development, "[t]he '07 market mix clearly is misaligned with where the market is going today with a real emphasis around fuel efficiency."

A concurrent and corresponding increase in car sales is expected to pick up the gap left by the shrinking pickup market. As a percentage of Ford's lineup, cars will increase from their 2007 30% share to a 38% share by 2013. Crossovers will fill the remainder with a rise from 18% to 24%.