The FINANCIAL -- Ford Motor Company U.S. sales totaled 136,710 vehicles in January, a 7 percent increase versus year-old levels, according to Ford. The Ford brand totaled 131,589 vehicles in January, making it the best January sales month for the Ford brand since 2008.

Ford brand grew small car, utility and truck sales in January versus a year ago. Focus small car and Escape utility combined provided 49 percent of Ford Motor Company volume growth in January. With 17,259 Escape vehicles sold, it was another best-ever January for Escape, topping last January by 24 percent.

Sales of the Ford Explorer totaled 9,966, a 36 percent gain versus strong year-ago results.

The Ford F-Series, America’s top-selling vehicle for the past 30 years posted January sales of 38,493 vehicles, representing an 8 percent increase. EcoBoost-equipped F-150s represented 42 percent of retail sales in January, providing Ford a retail F-150 V6 engine mix of 54 percent for the month.

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