Despite Ford Motor Co.’s struggles nationally, the carmaker’s dealers in Central Oregon remain a bright spot in the com-pany’s operations, according to local officials.

Local dealerships are reporting increasing sales in the region so far this year as Central Oregonians’ agricultural and recreational interests continue to drive truck sales, a key market for domestic manufacturers.

”I think that’s totally accurate,” said Jeff Robberson, principal of Robberson Ford, with locations in Bend and Prineville. ”Central Oregon is a community of recreaters, and areas like Prineville have a lot of agriculture going on, so Central Oregonians are more apt to drive SUVs.”

Robberson said new-car sales at his dealerships also are up, increasing 20.4 percent through September compared with last year. Truck sales, including pickups and SUVs, are up 2.1 percent.

That contrasts sharply with the national picture.

Ford posted a $5.8 billion loss Monday for the third quarter of this year. It was the company’s biggest quarterly loss in 14 years.

In metropolitan areas, dealerships’ profitability has fallen to all-time lows, according to a report by The Detroit News, so much so that Ford is considering reducing the number of dealers in those regions.

According to that report, Ford’s brands had as much as 23.7 percent of the U.S. car and truck market in 2000 but saw that figure drop to about 16 percent. Despite the loss in market share, Ford only closed 385 of its 4,800 dealers nationwide during that time.

But an official from Miller Ford Nissan in Madras said the negative press isn’t affecting business.

”In my opinion, attitude affects outcome,” said Joe Conte, Miller’s general sales manager. ”If you get up on (the negative national news), your business could be affected. Our focus is on customer service, and we’ve also been involved in Internet sales. Some people play off of the negatives, but we don’t do that.”

No sales numbers from Miller were available, but sales remain strong compared with last year, according to Conte.

”We’re doing very well, better than last year,” he said, citing the population growth of Central Oregon as a key reason. ”Our SUV sales are down a little bit, but it’s picked up by car and crossover sales.”

Those crossover sales will be the key to Ford’s turnaround nationally, Bend dealer Robberson said. The carmaker is rolling out the Edge, an SUV with more carlike performance and better fuel economy than conventional trucks, before the end of the year.

”We’re seeing the (SUV) market shift,” Robberson said. ”For some people that drove Expeditions, they may say, ‘I want to drive a crossover now.’ And we have new products coming up that allow us to participate in that. It’s when the segment shifts and you don’t have the products that you’re in trouble.”

He does worry, though, about negative national news affecting consumers’ perception of the Ford brand.

”The fact is that more people with disposable income are moving here, and we think we’re buffered a little bit from the rest of the nation,” Robberson said. ”We still have great products, but we worry about people following (the bad press) in regards to where the quality of the vehicles is going. It’s pretty scary, and it’s what keeps you up at night.”

But while he thinks Ford needs two more years to reverse losses from union and restructuring costs, Robberson also said the dealership will continue to keep the 17 percent of Central Oregon’s truck market it has so far this year.

”We have staying power in the community,” he said, noting that his dealership has been in Bend more than 40 years. ”Ford has two more tough years, but I think we (as a dealership) will maintain our market position.”

A third Central Oregon dealer, Wright Ford Inc. in Redmond, declined to comment.