Strong demand for Fiesta and KA drive further market share gains for Ford of Europe

    * Ford continues to outpace industry in a weaker market as it consolidates No. 2 best-selling brand position in Europe
    * April market share rises to 9 percent as share grows in 16 of 19 European markets
    * Fiesta remains Ford’s best-selling model, with 43,000 units sold in April


Ford of Europe gained nearly a percentage point of market share in April, rising to 9 percent for the main 19 European markets on the strength of strong Fiesta sales and a solid launch of the new Ka subcompact car.

In a month when the overall industry declined by 16.5 percent, Ford sold 120,000 vehicles, a decline of 7.4 percent from April 2008. On a year-to-date basis, Ford sold 471,700 vehicles, down 14.4 percent from the year-ago period, but above the industry decline of 18.3 percent. Ford’s market share for the January-April 2009 period climbed to 9.3 percent from 8.7 percent a year ago.

“We are pleased to see our market share continue to grow both in April and in the year-to-date, largely driven by strong demand for our Ka, Fiesta and Focus models,” said Ingvar Sviggum, vice-president marketing, sales and service, Ford of Europe.

“Ford is consolidating its position as the No.2 best-selling car brand in Europe. It's clear that more and more customers are changing to Ford because of our extremely strong product portfolio, including the new Fiesta which – despite the weakness in the overall European new car market – is our fastest-selling Fiesta ever,” he said. “Our improving trend makes me cautiously optimistic that our sales will be enhanced further once the newly-announced scrappage initiative in the UK gets fully underway in the coming months.”

April performance
The three best-selling Ford models in the 19 main European markets in April were the new Fiesta (43,000 units), the Focus (24,000 units), the Mondeo (9,400 units) and the new Ka (9,100 units).

The company’s leading market in April was Britain, selling 28,300 new vehicles. Although sales were down by 4,200 units from the same month in 2008, Ford’s market share rose to a market-leading 18.7 percent, up 3.1 percentage points compared to April last year. The Focus was Britain’s best-selling car in April, ahead of the Fiesta, which showed a sales surge of more than 37 percent versus April last year.

The industry in Germany was up 14 percent in April versus the same month in 2008, driven again by the government’s fleet modernization program. Ford outperformed the market by selling 27,700 vehicles, up by 19.6 percent or 4,500 units. This resulted in a market share of 7.4 percent for the Blue Oval, an improvement of 0.7 percentage points over the same period last year.

Ford also performed strongly in Italy. April sales rose 4,600 units, or 28.7 percent, to 20,800, lifting market share by 3.0 percentage points versus April 2008, and achieving a double-digit result of 10 percent. Ford remained Italy’s leading import brand and the Fiesta was the best-selling imported car.

In France, Ford’s total vehicle share for April was 5.9 percent, up 0.7 percentage points from April 2008 and the highest monthly share since January 2000.

Across all of its 51 European markets, Ford sold 137,100 vehicles in April 2009, down 15 percent or 24,100, when compared to the same month last year.

Year-to-date performance
Ford of Britain sold 125,800 vehicles, down 38,200 or 23.3 percent, when compared to last year. The UK industry was down by 31 percent during the same period. However, Ford’s market share in Britain has continued to rise in the first four months of the year, reaching 18.3 percent -- up by 1.9 percentage points from the first four months of 2008. The Fiesta remains Britain’s best-selling car for 2009 year-to-date.

Ford of Germany increased its sales over the first four months of the year by 28.8 percent. It sold 92,300 new vehicles, an increase of 20,600 over the first four months of 2008. Market share for the period rose to 7.4 percent, up 1.2 percentage points when compared to the same period in 2008.

Over the first four months of 2009, Ford Italy sold 79,100 vehicles, up 700 units, while market share rose by 2.0 percentage points to 9.9 percent. Fiesta rose from third to second place in the list of best-selling vehicles in Italy.

Year-to-date market share for Ford France also increased by 0.4 percentage points to 5.7 percent, with sales of 47,500, a reduction of 5,300 units from 2008.

The market in Spain remains one of the most depressed in Europe. The industry fell by 45 percent, with Ford sales totaling 25,400, a reduction of 28,800 units. Ford’s market share there was down as well to 8.4 percent, a reduction of 1.4 percentage points.

In Russia, Ford sales were 37,300, down by 22,300 units from the same period last year. However, Ford’s market share for the first four months of the year rose 1.2 percentage points to 7.2 percent.

Year-to-date for April Ford of Europe sold 541,600 vehicles in its 51 markets, a reduction of 121,500 or 18.3 percentage points versus the first four months of 2008.



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