New Vehicles Help Ford of Europe Gain Retail Market Share in February; Ford Restarts Large Car Production in Belgium

• Ford passenger car retail market share in key European markets* rose 0.6 percentage points, to 7.2 per cent, as new Fiesta and new Kuga are rolling out across Europe
• Ford commercial vehicle share reached 7.9 per cent, up 0.8 percentage points (19 traditional European markets), boosted by sales of new Transit Custom
• Ford overall vehicle sales and share in the traditional 19 European markets declined in February, reflecting weaker market conditions, the decision to reduce short cycle and daily rental registrations, and limited availability of large passenger cars
• Ford was the best-selling vehicle brand in the UK, with February sales volume up by 13 per cent and a market share of 16.2 per cent
• Ford today restarted normal production of Mondeo, S-MAX and Galaxy vehicles after  hourly employees at its Genk, Belgium, plant and adjacent supply park approved a social plan last week related to the plant’s proposed closure at the end of 2014
• Ford continues its product offensive in 2013, with the all-new Fiesta ST, Focus Electric, Transit, Transit Connect, Tourneo Connect and EcoSport

COLOGNE, Germany, March 18, 2013 – Strong demand for new vehicles such as the redesigned Fiesta and Kuga, and all-new B-MAX, helped Ford of Europe improve its retail market share by 0.6 percentage points year over year to 7.2 per cent in key European markets*.

Overall, Ford sold 63,000 vehicles in February in the traditional 19 European markets, down 19 per cent versus last year in an industry that fell by 11.4 per cent in February. Ford remained the No. 2 best-selling passenger car brand year-to-date.

“Our new products are selling well and the order banks are strong despite the continued weak European market,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe. “As we continue with the most extensive product refresh in Ford of Europe’s history, we will remain focused on growing retail share while reducing short-cycle sales and daily rental.”

Order takes of new Fiesta and new Kuga were up 18 per cent and 27 per cent in February, respectively, compared to February last year. More than 25,000 units of all-new B-MAX have been sold since launch in October 2012.

Ford today also confirmed it has restarted normal production of Mondeo, S-MAX and Galaxy vehicles after hourly employees at its Genk, Belgium, plant and adjacent supply park approved a social plan last week related to the plant’s proposed closure at the end of 2014, pending the completion of an information and consultation period. 

“Our sales in the first two months of the year were significantly affected by the lack of consistent supply of Mondeo, S-MAX and Galaxy so this is welcome news for Ford, our dealers and our customers,” de Waard said. “We have strong demand for these vehicles and will now move quickly to fill orders and meet the demand.”

New products are also driving commercial vehicle sales. Boosted by strong demand for the new Transit Custom and Ranger models, Ford sold 10,200 commercial vehicles in the Euro 19 markets in February. Ford’s commercial vehicle market share rose by 0.8 percentage points to 7.9 per cent in February. Order takes of Ford’s commercial vehicles are up 25 per cent versus February 2012.

Additional Ford vehicle launches in 2013 will include the Fiesta ST, Focus Electric, Transit, Transit Connect, Tourneo Connect and EcoSport.

Regions
 
Ford remained the market leader in the UK with February sales at 12,700 units, up 13 per cent. February market share for Ford was 16.2 per cent. The Ford Focus and Ford Fiesta were the top two selling vehicle respectively in the UK.

In February, Germany was the company’s largest market by volume, with a share of 6.5 per cent, and sales of 14,200 units.

In Russia, Ford’s fifth largest market by sales, monthly registrations for Ford were at 7,100, and at 13,400 units year-to-date.

Ford’s sales in Turkey grew by 15 per cent to 6,300 vehicles in February and by 20.7 per cent year-to-date, the highest volume gain for any of Ford’s European markets in the first two months of the year.

In Eastern Europe, Ford sales were up 1.2 per cent at 3,800 vehicles in February.

Ford sold 80,500 vehicles across the full European region of 51 markets, a reduction of 16.5 per cent.

* UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain. See table further down. Ford volume in these markets represents 80% of the Europe 19 volume.

 Notes to Editors:

• Ford of Europe's market share refers to the 19 European markets (Euro 19) - excluding Russia, Turkey and Romania (as the other main markets) and excluding the 29 European Direct Markets (EDM), where we base our share on non-domestic sales volume and hence no total industry share figures are available. Sales data (reference: registrations) for specific car lines refer to Euro 19.
• We also report our sales performance (passenger cars and commercial vehicles) for the total region for which Ford of Europe is responsible (51 markets in total), here however as retail sales (as total industry registrations numbers are not available).
• 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.
• Retail share referenced in this release refers to key European markets UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. These five markets represent approximately 75 per cent of private customer purchases of the Euro 19 market region.

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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 172,000 employees and 65 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 47,000 employees at its wholly owned facilities and approximately 69,000 people when joint ventures and unconsolidated businesses are included. In addition to Ford Motor Credit Company, Ford Europe operations include Ford Customer Service Division and 24 manufacturing facilities (15 wholly owned or consolidated joint venture facilities and nine unconsolidated joint venture facilities). The first Ford cars were shipped to Europe in 1903 – the same year Ford Motor Company was founded. European production started in 1911.