Ladies and Gentlemen - Mr John Fleming, Chairman & CEO, Ford of Europe
Good afternoon - welcome to Geneva. It’s great to see so many of you here with us.
What a difference a year makes!
This time last year we met right here and revealed the all-new Ford Fiesta at a time when demand for new vehicles was rising in markets across Europe. Today, our industry is facing a period of unprecedented challenge.
The depth of this recession and its severe impact on our industry dictate that auto companies and suppliers are now in a critical decision-making phase that will determine the winners and losers for years to come.
It's all the more important therefore that the European Union understands that a strong vehicle industry is at the heart of a strong industrial policy, which in turn should be a keystone of the European economy.
Unfortunately, the general lack of a co-ordinated, in-depth response from the EU has left each country to its own devices, doing what each feels to be necessary for its own auto industry. We're in danger of pushing back into economic nationalism and protectionism.
Action is needed now, especially as the recession has deepened since the start of the year, with industry sales down 27 percent for January and that trend continuing last month. We do not expect a recovery to begin until the end of this year, at the earliest.
In fact, we expect sales in our main 19 European markets to total between 12.5 and 13.5 million units this year. That's some four to six million units below 2007.
The news from the rest of the world is little better. The US market continues to cause great concern, and even the growth markets of recent years like Russia and China are weakening considerably.
While the situation is extremely challenging, I do want to assure you that neither Ford Motor Company globally or Ford of Europe, are in crisis.
In Europe, we posted our best profit for almost 20 years in 2008, despite the significant weakening in the European market in the fourth quarter. We also grew our total market share… and established ourselves as the No.2 best-selling brand in Europe.
We are adjusting our vehicle output to match capacity with demand. And we are maintaining a laser focus on our operating costs in response to lower revenues, and taking decisive actions to conserve cash.
While we cannot influence the size of the market, we can make sure we optimise our sales performance, and that is just what Ford of Europe did last year: out-performing the industry across the main Euro 19 territories and increasing our market share.
We aim to continue to do that this year, too.
And as we do so we will continue to strengthen our brand and invest in innovative new products.
I believe we now have the strongest vehicle line-up in our history.
We're very proud of the new Fiesta - it is our best selling car in Europe so far in 2009, and we're looking forward to the success continuing as we launch in Asia this year and North America next year.
Fiesta is a key element in Ford Motor Company's transformation and return to profitability, and will be followed by other global models as we leverage our assets worldwide as part of Ford Motor Company's "One Ford" strategy.
Strong products and technology are our life-blood. Technology like our new EcoBoost engines, which offer more power in smaller displacements, up to 20% better fuel economy and 15% less CO2. They're coming to Ford of Europe in 2010, and we'll tell you more closer to launch.
You may also have heard that the Ford's new electric vehicle commitment includes a Battery Electric version of our Transit Connect small van for North America. Tomorrow at the show, you'll see how we are extending this to Europe with our new Ford Tourneo Connect BEV Concept.
This vehicle is a result of our collaboration with Smith Electric Vehicles, and this technology is available now.
At present, the vehicle is conceptual, designed to show how easily the zero emission technology Smith has developed could be packaged into a passenger vehicle that would be ideal for use in a city.
With enough interest, this vehicle could be in production relatively quickly, and with a top speed target of 113 km/h and a range of 160 kilometres on a single charge, the Tourneo Connect BEV makes real sense.
It accelerates quicker, emits no harmful air pollutants or gases, and above all costs less to maintain than the diesel model, which performs at its worst in an urban traffic environment. It's also quiet, vibration-free and less stressful for the driver and passengers.
Please come to the Ford stand tomorrow to meet the Smith Electric Vehicles team, and take a closer look at the Tourneo Connect BEV.
Pause
Now, we want to give you another glimpse into our future, and the third of our iosis concepts.
Martin Smith and his team have built iosis MAX to showcase new thinking and new technology in a dramatic multi-activity package.
And before you conclude that what you're seeing is the next C-MAX, it isn’t.
This is a proper concept - but it does indicate how kinetic design is evolving for our next generation compact MAV, and ultimately for our future global C-car range as well. More on that later in the year.
Ladies and gentlemen – Thanks for joining us this afternoon and here is Martin Smith with the iosis-MAX concept!
