BRENTWOOD, Essex, 8 May, 2008 – The launch of Ford's new crossover, the Kuga, will strengthen the appeal of the blue oval, which has seen popularity rise by over six per cent with private car buyers.
The Ford Kuga goes on sale next month in the expanding compact 4x4 segment. With the lowest CO2 emissions in its segment, the Kuga is expected to be another winner with retail customers.
Ford Focus and Ford Mondeo are prominent among the models bought by almost 57,700 private buyers so far this year – an increase of 6.3 per cent compared with last year.
Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show a total for market leader Ford of 130,120 cars and 33,634 commercial vehicles registered so far this year.
Retail demand by 57,700 private customers reflects a switch of some registrations from the corporate fleet sector, which takes the balance of Ford's car registrations. For example, the retail sector now accounts for 80 per cent more Mondeo sales than a year ago.
Ford commercial vehicles, led by its flagship Transit model, have been named best van range by Van Fleet World magazine. The Ford Transit range boasts a 30 per cent share of all medium commercial registrations.
Sales of Ford's low CO2 vehicles are also growing. In April the increase in registrations of sub-120g CO2/km vehicles compared with April 2007 was 1,057. The segment leading Ford Focus diesel accounted for the most sub-120 g registrations at 1,796, while total Ford Focus diesel sales in April were 3,744. So far this year (to the end of April) sub-120g Ford registrations have increased by 2,798, compared with the same period last year.
Roelant de Waard, Ford of Britain chairman and managing director, said: "Our successful series of new model launches is continuing with Ford Kuga which, along with our other low carbon vehicles, delivers style with a green conscience."