Did Ford have a good August in terms of U.S. sales, or did the company's results slip like they did in July? We are about to find out, as Ford will be discussing U.S. sales results for August 2007 here in a few minutes. Ford's George Pipas will take the helm to talk about the automaker's August sales results.

The company has seen major changes in the last three quarters as newer CEO Alan Mulally has taken the struggling automaker to cost-cutting land in addition to designing cars (and increasingly, smaller SUVs) that U.S. buyers are wanting to actually purchase. In terms of this product segment, it's my belief that Ford is beating competitor GM here, and soundly.

So, with gas prices still holding steady near $3.00 per gallon in much of the country, let's see what Ford managed to secure in terms of U.S. business last month. Remember to use the "Refresh" key on your web browser to get all the minute-by-minute updates below. All times are in EST.

1:00pm -- George takes the reigns of the call after a short introduction. Since Ford has not yet published any August sales data for the U.S. yet on tis website (why, Ford?), I can't link to anything concrete. Ford is talking now ab out how weak consumer confidence was in August. Well, duh.

1:03pm -- Does the consumer "take stock" and begins to wait on vehicle purchases in August? According to Ford, this happens in the January to August timeframe. That's kind of vague, yes?

1:06pm -- retail and fleet sales were down 14% in August, and there was a 44% daily rental sales decline with the 13% retail sales decline in August.

1:09pm -- Pipas is referencing the released results for August 2007. They are still not available on Ford's monthly sales investor relations website. Where are they, George? Someone at For's web team is asleep at the wheel here I guess.

1:11pm -- Ford's market share was about 15% in the month of August, up from the 13% share average so far in 2007 (the first seven months). With Ford's volume decline with share gain, how did this happen?

1:13pm -- Ah-ha -- someone at Ford's website woke up. Here is the link to August's results. Prefer a PDF? See this link.

1:15pm -- Ford's all-new and redesigned crossovers were up 82% in August; year-to-date sales up 48%. Overall sales totaled 218,332, down 14% compared with a year ago; daily rental sales were down 44% and sales to individual retail customers were down 13% as stated above.

1:17pm -- Ford's August sales for the red-hot Ford Edge were 10,165 and the sister vehicle -- the Lincoln MKX -- had sales of 3,421. As Pipas is pointing out, the Edge and Lincoln MKX were introduced in December 2006 and already are among the best sellers in the mid-size and premium CUV segments.

1:20pm -- As Pipas is now talking about, sales for the redesigned 2008 model Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner crossovers were higher in August. Escape sales were 11,960, up 4 percent, and Mariner sales were 2,939, up 6 percent. Sales for the new Ford Expedition (up 17 percent) and Lincoln Navigator (up 57 percent) also were higher than a year ago. Expedition sales were up for the twelfth consecutive month.

1:21pm -- the analyst Q&A starts. First question: how was the incentive activity for Ford in August, along with the industry? Answer: incentive spending was down from August 2006 -- big time (but no more details come out).

1:23pm -- next question: credit availability: any more deterioration? Answer: Ford does not have the detailed info for California and Florida (where the credit crunches in the U.S. are the worst). Answer: Ford does not have state-by-state details, but will get them later.

1:25pm -- next question: 2007 total industry sales forecast :16.1 to 16.5 million -- why the range? Answer: the uncertainty is pretty substantial around the current environment, and with the consumer credit squeeze, the range exists to ensure Ford covers the minimum and maximum the company expects with so many unknowns.

1:28pm -- next question: Zero percent for 72 months financing in 2006: will retail comps for this past August be tough based on year-ago incentive results? Answer: last year's August incentives, which lasted into the first of September, will cause comps to go down for August 2007 (that's obvious be now).

1:31pm -- next question: are competitors using credit terms to steal share? Answer: Ford is not aware of this happening (short and sweet).

1:33pm -- next question (from the media, not the financial community): incentives: Ford's are down form July this year and from August 2006, correct? Answer: Yes -- Ford's August 2007 incentives were down from both periods, and with Ford's focus on restoring profitability instead of building share, this was expected.

1:36pm -- next media question: incentives reduced residual values in recent discussions, but Ford indicated that customers need to buy Ford's vehicles for what they are, not for the incentives offered. Answer: Ford replaced existing incentives in August, and did not add to it.

1:38pm -- next question: on the Ford Escape: were sales on target for August? Answer: sales for the Escape and the Mercury Mariner were above expectations, and comparing these sales to August 2006 is not a good thing since the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX did not exist at that time. Good point made by Pipas here.

1:41pm -- next question: can retail sales performance declines in August be broken down? Answer: Ford saw a 30% decline for cars and 4% for trucks in August. Almost a third decline for cars? That's huge, and Pipas makes the point of huge incentives in August 2006 compared to incentives for August 2007 (which were not big at all).

1:43pm -- next question: was there a pickup sales increase in Texas based on reported increased incentive spending by dealers there? Answer: Ford will need state-by-state numbers before it can comment (which makes sense). Ford sells a huge amount of trucks in Texas apparently.

1:46pm -- that's it. Ford's August sales for its largest market (the U.S.) were down, but the sales of smaller SUVs (called crossovers, or CUVs) continue to shine nicely for the company. If Ford had not rolled out the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, would it have suffered more? Probably.