Ford Discounts on Aluminum F-150 Truck Top $10,000

Ford Motor Co.'s Web site says buyers in certain regions of the U.S. can get discounts of $10,000 or more on a high-end version of the company's new aluminum-bodied Ford F-150 pickup truck.

Bloomberg News notes that discounts of nearly $7,100 are available in other parts of the country.

Sales of the all-new truck declined 2% to 357,200 units in the first half of 2015, according to Autodata Corp. Year-on-year sales began to fade in April, then fell 10% in May and 9% in June. Autodata says the F-150's share of the American fullsize pickup truck market plunged to 28% last month from 33% in June 2014.

Ford blames an inventory shortage caused when it retooled a second plant to build the aluminum-intensive truck. The company says dealer stocks won't be back to normal until September. As supplies build, the company notes it can offer bigger incentives akin to those available from its rivals.

Ford tells Bloomberg its overall incentives on F-Series trucks are lower now than they were at this time last year. The company also notes the average transaction price on the new truck is a segment-leading $44,100.

But Kelley Blue Book analyst Akshay Anand cautions the hefty new sales incentives could indicate a bigger problem, especially if they go nationwide and spread beyond high-end trim packages.