(RTTNews) -  Ford Motor Co. (F: News ) said Tuesday that its October U.S. sales rose 3.1% from last year due to strong customer demand for new cars and crossover utility vehicles. This marks the third time in the last four months that Ford has reported higher sales.

The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker said it sold 136,920 vehicles in October, up 3.1% from 132,838 vehicles sold in the same month last year. For the month of September, Ford had reported a 5.1% drop in U.S. vehicle sales.

October sales of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands rose 2.6% to 132,483 units, while sales of its Volvo luxury car unit that is up for sale climbed 19.4% to 4,437 units. Ford said late last month that it has chosen a consortium led by China's Zhejiang Geely Group Holding Co. Ltd. as its preferred bidder in the ongoing talks concerning the possible sale of Volvo.

In the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands, car sales rose 10.7% year over year to 45,225 units in October, and crossover utility vehicle sales, which include Ford Escape, Edge and Flex, surged 23.1% to 27,771 units, while SUV sales fell 5.8% to 8,572 units. Truck and van sales slipped 10.1% to 50,915 units.

Sales of small car Focus fell 4.3% to 10,119 units in October, while sales of small utility Escape jumped 26.1% to 12,471 units. Mercury Mariner sales surged 36.2% to 2,602 units.

Ford Fusion sales rose 24.1% to 13,445 in October, while sales of fuel-efficient mid-size sedan Mercury Milan fell 14.1% to 1,547 units. All-new Ford Taurus sales jumped 141.4% to 6,076 units. October sales of Ford Edge up 37.5% to 8,185 units.
Ford estimates its total market share in October was more than 15% - higher than a year ago and higher than its share in the first nine months of 2009. The month marked the 12th time in the last 13 months Ford has gained retail market share.

Sales of Ford's F-Series truck, America's best selling vehicle for 32 years in a row, fell 8.8% to 39,496 units in October from 43,324 units in the same month last year.

"Consumer demand for our new high-quality, fuel-efficient products is driving Ford's market share gains," said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing Sales and Service. "Ford vehicles are among the 'freshest' available by any automaker - with more than 80 percent of our sales in October coming from our new 2010 models."

For the year-to-date period, Ford's U.S. vehicle sales dropped 20.4% to 1.37 million units from 1.73 million units sold in the same period last year.

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