Ford Motor Company (F) sold 254,711 vehicles in the U.S. in March – an 8 percent gain versus a year ago – while first quarter sales of 645,626 vehicles were up 9 percent. This represents the company's best sales performance for March and first quarter since 2006.

Total Ford brand SUVs are off to their best start in company history, with first quarter total sales of 188,100 – up 15 percent versus a year ago. March SUV sales also were up 13 percent with 72,872 SUVs sold, marking the best March performance in 15 years.

For the month, Edge was up 49 percent, Escape was up 8 percent and Explorer was up 4 percent. F-Series sales exceeded 70,000 in March, with 73,884 trucks sold.