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Ford Motor Co. surged ahead of rival General Motors Tuesday as it posted a 43 percent jump in February US sales which put the number two US automaker in sights of the number one sales spot.
The gains come as Japanese rival Toyota is expected to post a sharp drop in sales following a series of mass recalls.
Ford's total February sales of 142,285 placed it squarely ahead of GM's 141,951 vehicles. Toyota, which had overtaken Ford years ago in US sales, is expected to report its results later Tuesday.
Ford forecast its market share would jump three points to about 17 percent amid higher demand for every brand and product category.
"The strength of our new products and Ford’s leadership in quality, fuel efficiency, safety, smart design and value are resonating with customers," said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president for US marketing, sales and service.
"The good news is we have even more new products and fuel efficient powertrains coming this year, and we expect our progress to continue."
Ford announced plans to boost its second quarter production by 32 percent, or 144,000 vehicles, to 595,000 vehicles. Its first quarter production plans were unchanged at 570,000 vehicles.
But while Ford's sales showed a 22 percent improvement over January's results, it remained significantly behind GM in year-to-date sales with Ford's total of 223,395 vehicles sharply below GM's 288,776 vehicles.
However, Ford said its retail sales were up 28 percent in February while GM reported that its retail sales rose just seven percent.
Ford said its sales to fleet customers like the government and rental car companies rose 74 percent in February.
Cars sales were up 54 percent versus a year ago, sport utility vehicle sales were up 39 percent, and trucks were up 36 percent.
Among brands, Ford sales were up 46 percent, Lincoln sales were up 19 percent, and Mercury sales were up 24 percent.
Sales at Volvo, which Ford is in the midst of selling to China's Geeley, rose 38 percent to 4,641 vehicles.
