FORD STRENGTHENS FURTHER ITS POSITION IN EUROPE

• Ford performance in Europe continues to add to its global sales momentum following recent strong gains in US and China
• Strengthens further its position as No.2 best-selling brand in Europe
• Fiesta sales success continuing: No.1 best-selling car in the small car segment and No.2 top-selling car overall in Europe, and Ford's No.1 in sales for August and year-to-date
• Ford market share is 9.05 per cent year-to-date: up 0.4 percentage points on the same period last year and best result for a decade
• Best August market share for 10 years at 8.1 per cent, and eighth consecutive month of market share increase compared to corresponding month last year
• Share up in 12 of Ford's main 19 European markets in August, and in 16 out of the 19 main European markets year-to-date
• Volume up in August compared to same month last year: third successive month of year-over-year monthly sales volume increase
• Ford sales in Germany up 34 percent versus year-to-date 2008, significantly outperforming a stronger industry boosted by the run-out of scrappage incentives

Please click here to download the Fact Sheet for September 2009

COLOGNE/FRANKFURT September 15, 2009 – For the month of August 2009, Ford once again outperformed the European car market.

For the third successive month, Ford of Europe increased its year-over-year monthly sales volume against the industry trend. Ford of Europe sold 72,800 new vehicles in its 19 main markets in August, one per cent more than in the same month last year and better than the industry which was down 0.5 per cent.

Ford's August market share rose by 0.1 percentage points to 8.1 per cent - the highest since August 1998. This is the eighth consecutive month of year-over-year share increase, further strengthening Ford's No.2 best-selling brand position in Europe. Ford's August share increased in 12 of its 19 main European markets versus August 2008.

"Our continued hard work in this difficult climate is paying off", said John Fleming, Chairman and CEO, Ford of Europe. "Our performance shows that it is even more important in a recession to have fresh and desirable products which can still attract new customers, even when consumer confidence is relatively low."
"Looking to the near future, we remain concerned that the ending of scrappage schemes which have been so successful in many European countries this year, will create another challenge for car makers as demand could dip suddenly all over again."

"As we keep reminding people, the underlying level of demand for new cars is very weak by the standards of recent years, and in the industry as a whole there remain significant pockets of over capacity. Though Ford of Europe has taken difficult decisions to adjust production capacity to demand, this has still not happened across the industry as a whole. That is why our growing sales penetration among retail customers is so pleasing, as we have not had to resort to some of the distress marketing that we are seeing out there in the markets," Fleming added.

August at a Glance
In what is traditionally a quieter month for industry sales, Ford's success in August is explained by strong retail customer demand for the latest Ford models, notably the top-selling Fiesta, Ka, and Focus. 71 per cent of both Fiesta and Ka sales were to retail customers.

"New Fiesta and Ka continue to drive high levels showroom traffic for us, and we're delighted that so many customers are continuing to choose these models," said Ingvar Sviggum, Ford of Europe's Vice-President for Marketing, Sales and Service. "We have invested strongly in new products throughout the recession, and you will see more evidence of this at the Frankfurt Motor Show, where we are revealing the all-new Ford C-MAX coming later in 2010."

In the first eight months of 2009, Ford of Europe registered 945,100 vehicles in its 19 main markets, 67,200 vehicles, or 6.6 per cent lower than the same period in 2008. This compares with a total industry decline of 11.2 per cent in that period. Ford's share rose by 0.4 percentage points to 9.05 per cent year-to-date, and was up in 16 of the 19 markets.
Year-to-date in its 51 markets Ford of Europe sold 1,065,200 vehicles, a reduction of 187,500 or 15.0 per cent versus the same period 2008.

The news from Ford of Europe follows other positive sales performances in other key Ford markets around the world in August, including double digit retail sales gains of 21 per cent in the US, and a year-over-year increase of 111 per cent on August 2008 in China.

Market and Model Sales Highlights

August

• Markets:
  • Ford was market leader in the UK, Ireland and Turkey; UK and Turkey market shares both at 16.9 per cent in August - the company's highest in Europe.UK share up 0.9 ppts, Turkey up 3.0 ppts. UK had best August share since 2003.
  • Germany had best sales volume since 2006 – up by 2,200 units on August 2008.
  • Confirmed as leading imported brand in Italy and France. In France sales volume increased by 22.3 per cent, the best August volume since 2000, achieving a 6 per cent share, best since January 2000. In Italy sales were up 13 per cent year-over year in August.
  • Poland saw a 10.1 per cent market share, up 2.7 ppts on the same month 2008, the best August share since 1994. Volume was highest August result since 1994 and up 29 per cent on August 2008 despite industry being down 5.2 per cent.
  • Austria with highest August sales since 1999.
  • Ford was among the three best-selling brands in 14 of 19 European markets.
• Models:
  • Ford of Europe's three top-selling vehicles (19 main markets) were the Fiesta (21,800), Focus (16,500), and Ka (6,300).
  • New Fiesta:
    • In August, 21,800 Fiestas were delivered to customers in Europe - 5,600 units more than the previous Fiesta model sold in August 2008.
    • Fiesta is best-selling foreign vehicle in August in both Italy and France.
    • In July, Fiesta was both Europe's second best-selling car and the leader in the small car segment, two achievements which external sources are expected to confirm later this month for both the month of August and year-to-date.
  • Ford Ka continues to be a success in the market: Ford sold 6,300 units in August (up 4,300 on August last year).
  • Fiesta, Focus, Galaxy and Transit were all segment-leading in the UK.
  • The Ford C-MAX was the best-selling foreign vehicle in its segment in France, where Kuga sales were up by 53 per cent on 2008. S-MAX was leading its segment in Spain.
    

August year-to-date

• Markets:
  • Ford's share increased in 16 of the 19 main markets.
  • Market leader in the UK, Ireland and Hungary.
  • Italy (share up by 1.9 ppts to 9.7 per cent) and the UK (up by 1.4 ppts to 17.8 per cent).
  • The highest year-to-date August share gains are from Hungary (+ 2.5 ppts), Czech Republic (+ 2.3 ppts) and Ireland (+ 2.0).
  • Year-to-date sales volume in Italy was up 13.2 per cent, whilst Italian industry was down by 9.5 per cent.
  • Germany saw sales increases of 34 per cent (vs. an increase of 21 per cent for the industry) in the first eighth months of 2009.
  • Ford was among the three best-selling brands in 12 of its Euro19 markets.
  Models:
  • The three best-selling vehicles in the first eight months of 2009 were the new Fiesta (299,600), Focus (200,100) and Transit (77,900).
  • In the first eight months of 2009, Fiesta sales were up 82,500 over the same period 2008. Approximately 359,000 Fiestas have been sold since the car was launched last autumn.
  • 68,600 Ford Ka vehicles were delivered to Ford customers this year. Fiesta and Ka among the top three selling vehicles in their segment in Spain.
  • The Ford C-MAX was leading its segment in Italy, as was the Focus wagon.
  • Ford S-MAX, Kuga and Mondeo were among the top three sellers in their segments in Spain for the first eight months of 2009.
  • The Ford Focus remained no. 2 best-selling vehicle in the UK in the first eight months of 2009, behind the Fiesta.

August 2009 sales volume (in registrations)

¹ 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.
² Total Euro 51 composed of EURO 21 registrations and EDM 30 retail sales, as total EDM 30 registrations figures are not available. Industry retail sales data not available.
³ EDM 30 or European Direct Markets are: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Georgia, Gibraltar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgysztan, Libya, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

August 2009 market share ⁴

⁴ Not available for EDM, where we base our share on non-domestic sales volumes.

Ford Top 5 markets ranked by August volume (in registrations) plus Russia

Top 5 markets ranked by Ford's share in August

August sales (in registrations) by vehicle line (Euro 19) ⁵

⁵ Figures do not include vehicles such as car-derived vans, Maverick, Explorer imports and Turkish-built Cargo heavy trucks. Data are based on registrations.

Notes to Editors:

• Ford of Europe's market share refers to the 19 European markets (Euro 19) - excluding Turkey and Russia (as the other main markets) and excluding the 30 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.
• European Direct Markets are: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Georgia, Gibraltar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgysztan, Libya, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan