Ford Motor Co. built 8,872 fewer Escape compact SUV's at its Louisville Assembly Plant last month compared with September last year, a 28 percent cut made in response to slowing consumer demand for its once hot-selling models.

The company also dialed back production of its higher-priced Lincoln MKC at the factory, cutting production by nearly 18 percent year over year in September and by more than 34 percent through the first nine months of the year.

"This is normal course of business for us. We match production to consumer demand, as we always do. During that month, we had one down week," Ford spokeswoman Kelli Felker said.

No changes in the workforce are envisioned for the sprawling factory on Fern Valley Road in South Louisville, Felker said.

But industry analysts caution that an overall drop in U.S. vehicle sales recently has put car and truck makers on edge and inevitably could lead to workforce cuts in selected plants. Ford reported an 11-percent drop in September sales, and blamed pent up demand after Hurricane Harvey last year in Houston and more weather-related hits from Hurricane Florence last month for a less-than-stellar comparison.

The bad news for the automaker and potentially for 4,400 hourly auto workers at LAP is that the Escape, assembled only in Louisville, competes in the hottest-selling vehicle segment. While sales overall continue to grow in compact SUVs, the Escape is losing traction with buyers.

Why? "The Escape is very dated compared with its competitors," said Michelle Krebs, a spokeswoman and executive analyst with Cox Automotive, which tracks the industry.

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Escape aren't moving as well because Ford has cut back on fleet sales. There's also the "used factor" when customers weigh buying a thee-year-old formerly leased Escape and a brand new SUV that looks the same. That depresses demand for the 2018's, Krebs said.

Depending on the extras, new 2018s sell for $26,000 to $29,000, compared with a leased model with 32,000 miles. It's listed on local dealer websites for $16,000 to $17,000.

The automaker turned heads when it announced earlier this year that it's ditching passenger car production and going all in on trucks and SUV's. That's been controversial, she said.

"Ford is challenged right now. It's under a lot of scrutiny from Wall Street. Its stock price is down...because they haven't freshened their product lines."

Also, things aren't going to get any easier for the Escape because "competition within the segment (and others) is expected to intensify as the pie no longer grows and the new models are introduced," Krebs said, noting that the segment's top seller, Toyota RAV4, also saw a sales dip in September.

In September 2017, Ford produced 31,778 Escapes at LAP, versus last month, when the output was cut to 22,906. Year to date through September, LAP turned out 284,826 units last year, compared with 236,292 this year — a 17-percent decline.

Lincoln MKC production is far more limited at the factory because of lower demand traditionally for the higher-priced model, which starts at $38,000. Some 3,736 Lincolns were assembled last month, compared with 4,546 in September of 2017. Year to date through September, production was trimmed from 43,571 to 28,452 this year.

Ford's Felker declined to forecast production plans during coming month, saying "we don't discuss future product."

Todd Dunn, president of United Auto Workers Local 862, which represents all hourly workers at both local Ford plants, said there's been no talk of layoffs that he's heard of, but "it's always a concern when production drops off."

LAP has felt the ups and downs of sometimes seasonal surges in sales as the U.S. auto industry has rebounded in the last decade. In summer 2015, when car and truck sales hit an historic high, Ford trimmed the usual two-week summer shutdown for equipment cleaning and re-tooling to one week at the Fern Valley plant.

But about 15 months later, Ford idled production there to compensate for an oversaturation of Escapes and MKC's on dealer lots.

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Grace Schneider: 502-582-4082; gschneider@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @gesinfk. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/graces