(Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. U.S. sales chief Mark LaNeve says he's not bothered by being outsold by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV in September, which he blamed on Ford's decline in sales to fleet buyers, especially an 11 percent drop to rental car agencies.
"We don't worry about being in a contest with them," LaNeve said of Fiat Chrysler. "You know, there's been months when we beat General Motors and we didn't pound our chests when that happened. It was a function of timing and what have you."
LaNeve sees better days ahead when Ford rolls out redesigned models of its top selling SUVs, the Escape and Explorer, in the middle of next year.
"We're trying to run our business to optimize value for the customers and our profitability and we've had a very stable share performance," LaNeve said. "We're looking forward to getting out in Las Vegas in two weeks with our dealers and showing them everything that's coming next year."
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To contact the reporter on this story: Keith Naughton in Southfield, Michigan at knaughton3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tal Barak Harif at tbarak@bloomberg.net, Giulia Camillo
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