F-150 helps drive 15% jump in Ford's US sales

It appears to have been worth the wait for US car maker Ford.

The company got off to a better start in its domestic market in 2015 than expected, thanks in part to a revamped version of the F-150, which has been the best-selling vehicle in North America for just over 3 decades.

Ford's sales had lagged those of rivals in the second half of last year as a new version of the pick-up truck made of aluminium, rather than steel, was developed.

Sales of the F-150 reached 54,370 last month, up 17 per cent from a year earlier and the pick-up truck's best showing for the month of January since 2004.

Erich Merkle, an analyst at Ford, said:

Momentum is especially strong for our F-Series pickup, with the all-new F-150 the hottest product on our dealer lots in January.

The company's overall sales climbed 15 per cent last month to 178.351. That topped expectations of a 12.8 per cent rise.

The company's cross-town rival General Motors reported an 18.3 per cent rise in sales for the month to 202,786 thanks to strong demand for the company's trucks, crossovers and SUVs. It fell just short of analysts' expectations for an 18.8 per cent gain.

Purchases of Chevrolet and GMC trucks led the way, with sales up at each division by at least a fifth. GM said its move into the small crossover segment was "well-timed" and that overall results were lifted by a strengthening US economy and low fuel prices.

The Detroit-based company, which expects industry sales to start the year at a 16.6m annualised pace, noted that incentives fell in January and that it was able to increase average prices by $2,400 per vehicle to $34,800.