FORD MOTOR CO. Exec predicts F-Series demand to exceed supply

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A top Ford Motor Co. executive predicts record industry sales for the automaker's F-Series pickups in 2004, but he said it would strain the company's ability to make enough of the top-selling vehicles.
Speaking to reporters Sunday at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention, Ford Division President Steve Lyons said the company should sell at least 912,000 F-Series trucks this year, eclipsing its own industry mark for full-size pickups of 911,597 in 2001.
Last year, Ford sold 845,586 F-Series trucks.
The gem of Ford's F-Series lineup is the F-150, which accounts for roughly 60 percent of the series' total sales. Ford launched a new version of the F-150 in September.
Ford has said it hopes to sell 1 million F-Series trucks annually once plants are at full production.
Ford builds the new F-150 at plants in Norfolk, Va., and Kansas City, Mo., but production at a new factory in Dearborn, Mich., outside Detroit, is not expected to begin until midyear.
Because of this, Lyons said the 1 million mark is not realistic this year. Depending on the market, sales could reach 920,000 to 925,000, he said.