• Across its total 51 European markets, Ford sales increased by 13 per cent in May to 143,000, up by 16,600 from May 2010
• Ford’s May sales in its traditional 19 European markets rose 10.5 per cent to 116,500 units, with Ford remaining the No.2 best-selling brand in Europe
• The all-new Ford Focus has sold nearly 45,000 units in its few weeks on sale in Europe; Focus wagon and four-door models now being launched across Europe
• This year through May, sales of the C-MAX have doubled over a year ago; this is the fastest year-to-date sales pace for C-MAX since 2006  
• Strong customer appeal of significantly freshened Ford vehicles, including Galaxy and S-MAX with sales in May up by 35 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively    
• Kuga monthly sales jumped 40 per cent on May 2010, the highest gain of any Ford vehicle, marking the best monthly sales for Kuga since launch in February 2008
• UK share in May increased to a market-leading 15.6 per cent, up by half per cent on May 2010; share in Germany rose by 0.5 percentage points to 7.2 per cent
• May sales in Russia, Turkey and Eastern Europe grew by 37, 22 and 19 per cent, respectively. Ford's Turkish sales in the first five months of 2011 rose 53 per cent to a record sales volume of 53,200
• Ford owners opting for more customer-focused technologies and greener vehicles 

COLOGNE, Germany, June 16, 2011 – Ford increased sales across its total 51 European markets in May by 13 per cent to 143,800 units, up by 16,600 units from May 2010.

The increase was fueled by strong sales of the all-new Ford Focus and C-MAX, the recently refreshened S-MAX and Galaxy and popular vehicles including the Kuga.  

May sales in Ford's traditional 19 European markets rose by 10.5 percentage points to 116,500, up by 11,100. By comparison, the total industry increase in these countries only saw an 8.8 per cent improvement. Ford’s market share for the month increased by 0.1 percentage points compared with a year ago to 8.3 per cent. Both in May and in the first five months of 2011, Ford was Europe’s No. 2 best-selling car brand. 

“This has been a very solid May for Ford sales in Europe, and I'm particularly delighted by the strong response to our technologies on our latest vehicles," said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service. "For example, in our CD vehicles we've seen customer demand double over the past nine months for our latest smart technologies, such as the Auto High Beam, Rear View Camera, Driver Alert, Lane Departure Warning and Blind Spot Information System.

“We're also seeing a shift towards lower emissions vehicles, too. Around 35 per cent of Ford's total vehicle sales are for vehicles emitting less than 120 g/km CO2, and there's been a close to a six-fold increase today in sales of Ford vehicles emitting less than 110 g/km CO2 compared to the start of 2010,” said de Waard.

Model and market highlights

More than 100,000 customers have now purchased or ordered the new C-MAX. Year-to-date May, sales volume of the C-MAX have doubled over a year ago, giving the C-MAX its fastest sales start to the year since 2006. 

To meet demand for the five-seat Ford C-MAX and seven-seat Ford Grand C-MAX, Ford recently increased the daily production rate by almost 18 per cent at its plant in Valencia, Spain, where the models are built. In Germany, C-MAX sales were up 147 per cent this year through to May compared with the same period year.

The Ford Focus also is performing strongly, with 18,800 Focus units sold in May and nearly 45,000 units in total since the popular five-door model first went on sale in mid-March. The Wagon and four-door derivatives are now being launched across Europe.

Ford’s Kuga sales of 6,400 marked the company’s best performance ever for the vehicle since launch in February 2008, while sales of the Galaxy and S-MAX models in the Euro 19 region jumped 35 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively.

Ford sales in May in the growth markets in the European region continued to increase. Sales for Ford in Russia, Turkey and Eastern Europe rose by 37, 22 and 19 per cent, respectively. Year-to-date May, Ford in Turkey posted a 53 per cent sales gain over the 2010 period, up by 18,300 to 53,200, resonating in a record sales volume for Ford in the country.

In Britain, Ford achieved a 15.6 per cent share for the month of May – up by half per cent on May 2010 – whilst in Germany, Ford posted a 7.2 per cent share, an increase of 0.5 percentage points.  

Ford retained market leadership in the UK and Denmark in May, and is the market leader in the UK, Hungary and Turkey through the first five months of the year. Ford also was the top imported brand in Italy for May and year-to-date.

Ford increased its market share in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Poland, Sweden, Romania and Russia in May 2011.  

Year-to-date 2011 sales

In its traditional 19 European markets, 570,400 new Ford vehicles were registered in the first five months of 2011, a reduction of 27,600 or 4.6 per cent from the same period last year.

Year-to-date market share in Ford's traditional 19 European markets was 8.3 per cent, down 0.5 percentage points compared to 2010. The lower sales and market share reflect the favourable impact of scrappage schemes still in place in the early part of 2010, which helped to boost Ford's small car sales in the first part of 2010, as well as Ford’s decision to selectively reduce participation in low margin business.

Across its total 51 markets across Europe, Ford sold 684,000 vehicles in the first five months of 2011, up 4,300 or 0.6 percent compared to the same period 2010.

May sales highlights

Market Performance (Euro 19 plus Russia and Turkey):

• May sales in Russia were 9,900 units, an increase of 37 per cent or 2,700 units on 2010, while Ford in Turkey reported a sales gain of 22 per centto 12,800 units, up by 2,300 units versus May 2010. Eastern European sales were up 19 per cent.
• Ford was market leader in the UK and Denmark and No.1 imported brand in Italy.
• Ford's share in its 19 European markets was 8.3 per cent for May, an improvement of 0.1 ppts.
• Ford increased share in 11 of the traditional19 European markets.
• Ford in Germany reported sales of 24,000 for the month of May, up by 5,900 units or 32.5 ppts on 2010, with a market share of 7.2 per cent, up by 0.5 ppts – the best share in the market since 2009 – without the scrappage scheme this would have been the best May share since 2004.   
• In Britain, Ford had a market-leading share of 15.6 per cent - an increase of by 0.5 ppts on 2010.
• Highest share gains in the Euro 19 were in Portugal (up 2.1 ppts, with share at 7.4 per cent), Finland (up 1.6 ppts; share at 9.0 per cent) and Denmark (up 1.4 ppts; share at 13 per cent).

Model Performance (Euro 19):

• Fiesta (32,200), all-new Focus (18,800) and Transit (13,300) were Ford's top-selling models
• New C-MAX sales were 11,700 in May, and total sales are 68,300 units since launch in late 2010. This also was the best May for C-MAX sales since 2004.
• S-MAX and Galaxy had another strong month in May, with S-MAX sales up by 800 units to 4,200 or 23 per cent, the highest May volume since 2008, whilst Galaxy saw sales of 2,600, up by 700 units on 2010, an increase of 35 per cent on May 2010.
• Fiesta was best-selling foreign vehicle for the month in Italy.
• Since its market debut in October 2008, 1,233,000 customers have purchased the Fiesta around the world, with more than 1,137,000 cars having been sold in Europe. 
• Transit sales soared to 13,300 units (up by 2,800 on May 2010) or an increase of 27 per cent, the largest May volume for Transit since 2008. 
• C-MAX was the best-selling foreign vehicle in its segment in France in May.

Year-to-date May 2011 performance
 
Market Performance (Euro 19 plus Russia and Turkey):

• Market leader in the UK, Hungary and Turkey. 
• Ford's share at 8.3 per cent, down by 0.5 ppts on the first five months of 2010.
• Germany's year-to-date May 2011 volume grew to 108,000 up by 21 per cent or 18,800 units, the highest year-to-date May sales since 2009 (without the scrappage scheme it would have been the highest May ytd sales since 2004).
• Ford's share increased in four of its traditional 19 European markets, plus in Romania.
• Leading import brand in Italy for the first five months of 2011.
• Scandinavian markets are going from strength to strength in the first five months of 2011. Finland had registrations of 6,900 up by 1,500 units, an increase of 28 per cent on 2010 and the highest year-to-date May volume improvement there since 2008. Sweden's sales volume was at 9,600 up by 1,800, representing an increase of 23 per cent on the first five months of 2010, the highest May year-to-date sales since 1998.
• The highest share gains of all 19 markets year-to-date 2011 were in Norway (+ 0.5 ppts at 8.3 per cent share), Austria (+ 0.5 ppts, at 7.1 per cent, whilst volume at 12,300, up by 2,400 was the highest YTD May volume there since 1999) and Germany (+ 0.4 ppts to 7.4 per cent).
• For the first five months of 2011 sales in Turkey increased by 18,300 units to 53,200 – a 53 per cent sales plus on the same period 2010 and the highest ever may ytd sales performance for Ford in the country. 2011 May year-to-date sales for Ford in Russia were at 40,700, up by 38 per cent or 11,200 units on the same period 2010.

Model Performance (Euro 19):

• The three best-selling vehicles year-to-date May 2011 were the Fiesta (161,200), Transit (63,800) and new C-MAX (55,700).
• Year-to-date May Transit volume and share were the highest since YTD May 2003.
• In the first five months of 2011, Fiesta remained the best-selling foreign vehicle in Italy.
• Fiesta was the UK's No.1 selling car year-to-date, while Transit was the best-selling commercial vehicle in the first five months of 2011.
• New Focus sales achieved a sales gain of 18,100 - the highest volume improvement of a Ford vehicle in the main 19 markets YTD May of 2011. In Germany C-MAX sales were up 147 per cent on the first five months of 2011.  
• C-MAX and S-MAX were the best-selling foreign vehicles in their segment in France.

• The Euro 19 markets are: Austria, Belgium, Britain, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Ford reports sales for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania through our Finnish National Sales Company, so sales data for the Baltic states is also included within Euro 19.
• EDM 29 or European Direct Markets are:
• Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Georgia, Gibraltar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

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Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 166,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.

Ford of Europe is responsible for producing, selling and servicing Ford brand vehicles in 50 individual markets and employs approximately 66,000 employees. In addition to Ford Motor Credit Company, Ford of Europe operations include Ford Customer Service Division and 22 manufacturing facilities, including joint ventures. The first Ford cars were shipped to Europe in 1903 – the same year Ford Motor Company was founded. European production started in 1911.