Shares of Ford Motor Co. F, -0.27% fell 0.8% in morning trading, after the automaker said total March sales dropped 25.6% from a year ago to 159,328, but showed an increase from a month ago given improvements in production and inventory. The automaker also said retail orders at dealers rose 33% from a year ago to a record 88,000 orders in March. Within total vehicle sales, truck sales dropped 34.4% to 74,420 and SUVs fell 9.4% to 81,280, while electrified vehicles increased 16.9% to 13,772. Sales of Ford’s best selling F-Series trucks fell 46.6% to 44,906 in March, sales of the Explorers, the best-selling SUV, dropped 35.9% to 16,915. Ford’s stock has dropped 20.5% year to date, while shares of rival General Motors Co. GM, +0.34% have shed 26.7% and the S&P 500 SPX, +0.36% has lost 4.6%.
