BRENTWOOD, Essex, 4 June 2009 – Market leader Ford saw sales of its small car range climb in May, returning to levels of a year ago.
Figures out today from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show new Ford Ka, Fiesta and Fusion registrations within 50 units of their 10,046 total in May last year.
Fiesta-Focus 1-2
Ford's new Fiesta continued its monthly competition with the ever popular Ford Focus for the UK's number one sales spot. Ford Fiesta was Britain's top seller in May and overall leader year to date, with Focus second in both charts.
Ford outperformed the total May car market by almost nine per cent. Compared with an industry drop of 24.8 per cent, Ford sales fell just 16 per cent versus May 2008. The Government's scrappage scheme has already started to have a positive effect, with more than 3,800 extra Ford registrations added last month.
Ford's Ka, Fiesta and Fusion model ranges account for two thirds of scrappage transactions in blue oval dealerships. The remainder is chiefly for Ford Focus, with the balance spread across the rest of Ford's range.
Ford's strong performance in a reduced market resulted in a total share of 17.3 per cent of all May vehicle sales – a percentage point up on a year ago. The growing popularity of more economical vehicles helped the Ford Kuga compact crossover, capable of 46.3mpg and 159g/km CO2 emissions, achieve a near 50 per cent sales surge.
Nigel Sharp, Ford Britain managing director, said: "We hope this scrappage scheme will boost sales of new vehicles and in doing so, help secure jobs at Ford and our dealer partners, and assist the environment. It is early days yet but increased web traffic and showroom visits are now turning into vehicle registrations, so we remain optimistic as we head into the summer selling months."
Sales of Ford cars under the 120g/km CO2 tax break rose by 57 per cent last month – and have more than doubled so far this year compared with the same 2008 period.
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Note: Fuel economy figures quoted are in UK mpg, are based on the European Fuel Economy Directive EU 80/1268/EEC and will differ from fuel economy drive cycle results in other regions of the world.
