COLOGNE, Germany, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A strong product range, led by the new, award-winning Fiesta, allowed Ford of Europe to consolidate its market position in 2008 and firmly establish Ford as Europe's second best-selling vehicle brand, despite the challenging market conditions.
"In a difficult economic environment, we were able to improve our overall market share last year thanks to the strongest product line-up in our history, and the early success of our new Fiesta," said John Fleming, Ford of Europe chairman and CEO.
"We believe this strength is a key factor in helping us to deal with the challenge of the deep economic crisis for as long as it lasts, and will allow us to take full advantage of an upturn in demand when it does arrive," said Fleming.
The company increased its market share in 15 of its main 19 European markets. Even with a deep industry decline in traditionally strong Ford markets like the UK and Spain, Ford of Europe increased its full-year 2008 market share across its main 19 markets by 0.1 percentage points to 8.6 percent.
The new Fiesta has gotten off to a particularly strong start. Two months after going on sale in late 2008, more than 61,000 new Fiestas have been sold in the main 19 European markets, making it the second best-selling Ford car behind the Focus.
As soon as it went on sale in the UK, the Fiesta became the best-selling car for both November and December.
"This gives us real confidence that the Ford brand will emerge even stronger when the economy rebounds," said Ingvar Sviggum, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe. "With our newly introduced small and fuel-efficient Fiesta and Ka models, we are in a great position for when that happens."
December Sales Down, Market Share Stable
In December 2008, Ford of Europe sold 90,500 vehicles across its 19 European markets. This was down 19.7 percent versus December 2007, a reduction of 22,200 units.
However, Ford's market share in these countries remained stable at 8.4 percent versus the same month the previous year. Contrary to the overall industry trend, the company increased sales in four of its 19 main European markets: France, Portugal, Finland and Switzerland.
Top selling Ford models in the 19 main European markets were the Focus (20,300), new Fiesta (18,600) and Transit (10,500). In France, the Fiesta, S-MAX and C-MAX were the best-selling imported vehicles in their segments.
Across its 51 European markets, Ford sold 118,300 vehicles, down 25.6 percent versus the same month last year.
Among other sales highlights for the month, three of the company's five biggest markets achieved market share gains:
-- Despite a challenging economic environment, Ford improved its share in Spain for December by 0.4 percentage points to 8.1 percent -- In Italy, market share increased by 0.8 percentage points to 7.5 percent -- Market share in France rose by 0.6 percentage points to 5.3 percent.
Ford of Britain confirmed its market leadership again with a 16.7 percent December share, down 0.7 percentage points from December 2007. Ford was also market leader in Ireland, where market share soared by 15.9 percentage points to 21.4 percent in December, the highest market share within the Ford of Europe sales organisation.
Ford of Europe Established as Second Best-Selling Brand in 2008
With an 8.6 percent market share, Ford in its main 19 European markets established a solid position as Europe's second best-selling brand in 2008.
Sales volume, however, was down for the full year in these 19 markets by 7.4 percent compared to the same period in 2007. This compares to a 7.6 percent overall decline for the industry. In total, Ford sold 1,443,800 vehicles, and 10 out of these 19 markets had sales gains in 2008 compared with 2007, despite the difficult industry conditions.
Ford sales in the European Direct Markets were at 80,500 in the full year 2008, a 23.6 percent increase over 2007. Across all of its 51 European markets, the company sold 1,783,500 units in 2008, down 6.1 percent when compared to the same period in 2007.
Ford's popularity among private retail customers in the UK made Britain the company's top performing market throughout the year, selling 406,100 vehicles in 2008 and giving it a market share of 16.4 percent.
Germany had a strong year, characterised by consistent market share gains. Ford sold 241,400 vehicles there, an increase of 6,200 units or up 2.7 percent versus 2007. That lifted its full-year market share by 0.3 percentage points to 7.0 percent.
In France, with the help of a government scrappage program, Ford boosted sales by 6.6 percentage points to 142,600 vehicles, raising its market share by 0.3 percentage points, to 5.3 percent.
For the first time since 1995, Ford was the best-selling passenger car brand in Spain, with a market share of 9.2 percent. The Ford Focus was Spain's best-selling car for the year.
Although sales in Italy fell to 190,300, a reduction of 33,700 units, Ford remained the country's leading imported automotive brand. Despite a weak close to the year in Russia, 2008 full year sales there improved by 6.0 percentage points to 185,200.
Full Year and December 2008 total sales volume December 08 December YTD 08 Euro 19 (1) 90,500 1,443,800 changes vs. 07 down 22,200 / down 115,200 / (19.7)% vs. 12/07 (7.4)% vs. Dec. YTD 07 Euro 21 (Euro 19 114,900 1,703,000 +.Russia and Turkey) down 38,400 / down 132,000 / changes vs. 07 (25.1)% vs. 12/07 (7.2)% vs. Dec. YTD 07 EDM 30 (2) 3,400 80,500 changes vs. 07 down 2,400 / up 15,400 / (40.7)% vs. 12/07 23.6% vs. Dec. YTD 07 Total EURO 51 (EURO 118,300 1,783,500 21 + EDM 30) down 40,800 / down 116,600 / changes vs. 07 (25.6)% vs. 12/07 (6.1)% vs. Dec. YTD
(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) 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.
Full Year and December 2008 total market share (3) December 08 December YTD 08 Euro 19 (3) 8.4% 8.6% changes vs. 07 +/- 0.0 ppts. vs. up 0.1 ppts. vs. Dec. 07 Dec. YTD 07 Euro 21 (incl. Russia 8.6% 8.4% and Turkey) down 0.3 ppts. vs. down 0.1 ppts. vs. changes vs. 07 Dec. 07 Dec. YTD 07
(3) Not available for EDM, where we base our share on non-domestic sales volumes.
Full Year and December sales by vehicle line (Euro 19) (4) Model December 08 o(u)December 07 December YTD 08 o(u)December YTD 07 Ka 700 (2,700) 43,500 (8,700) New Ka 2.000 2,000 4,300 4,300 Fiesta 5,600 (18,400) 266,100 (89,900) New Fiesta 18,600 18,600 61,400 61,400 Fusion 3,600 (1,500) 66,500 (11,600) Focus 20,300 (6,500) 353,200 (35,900) Focus Coupe- Cabriolet 700 (800) 11,700 1,400 C-MAX 6,000 (3,100) 107,200 (16,900) Kuga 3,900 3,900 27,000 27,000 Mondeo 9,200 (3,000) 162,500 69,100 S-MAX 3,500 (800) 54,900 (16,300) Galaxy 1,600 (600) 30,900 (3,800) Transit 10,300 (5,000) 173,100 (8,800) Transit Connect 3,000 (2,700) 56,500 (21,800) Ranger 1,000 (900) 15,700 (5,200)
(4) Figures do not include vehicles such as the Fiesta van, Maverick, Explorer imports and Turkish-built Cargo heavy trucks. Notes to Editors:
-- Ford of Europe's market share refers to the traditional main 19 European markets (Euro 19) -- excluding Turkey and Russia (as the other main markets) and the 30 European Direct Markets (EDM), where we base our share on non-domestic sales volume.
-- 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).
-- Sales data for specific car lines refer to the Euro 19 markets.
-- 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.
