Ford reported third-quarter U.S. sales of 509,764 vehicles, down 6.6% from a year earlier, retaining the No. 3 market position by a narrow margin over Hyundai Motor Group. Hyundai, Kia and Genesis sold a combined 506,200 vehicles, up 5.4%, as hybrid demand surged amid gasoline prices above $4 a gallon. Ford's planned Escape and Lincoln Corsair phase-outs weighed on comparisons, but excluding those models, sales were essentially flat while the broader U.S. industry declined about 1%. Ford estimated retail market share rose about 0.4 percentage point to 12.1%.\n\nFord sold 1.52 million vehicles through September, including 891,400 trucks and vans. F-Series sales reached 561,508 through September, more than 140,000 ahead of Chevrolet Silverado, while Super Duty production rose 4.4% to 110,275 trucks, its strongest quarterly result in 19 years. Maverick Hybrid sales jumped 59.6% to a quarterly record of 27,793. Ford's EV sales fell sharply after the $7,500 federal tax credit expired, while Hyundai, Kia, Toyota and Honda reported hybrid-sales increases of 39%, 152%, 29% and 21%, respectively.