Ford says sales drop as expected, keeps forecast

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Monday it was keeping unchanged its full-year forecast for 15.7 million vehicle sales in the U.S. market on an industrywide basis this year, reflecting its expectation that market conditions will improve in the second half.

U.S. auto sales for February appear on track to have hit an annualized and adjusted sales rate of between 15.1 million and 15.3 million units, Ford chief sales analyst George Pipas said on a conference call with analysts and reporters.

Pipas said that sales rate was in line with Ford's expectations for the first half of 2008. Retail sales through showrooms were down 6 percent for Ford in February, while fleet sales were down 8 percent, Pipas said.

(Reporting by Kevin Krolicki; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)