Ford reports increased market share in Europe

RP news wires, Noria Corporation

Ford, the No. 2 best-selling new vehicle brand in Europe, increased its market share for the seventh consecutive time in July, resulting in the company’s best July and year-to-date market share performance since 1999. This is according to a report released August 12 by the company.

Ford of Europe had 9 percent market share in its main 19 European markets, up 0.6 percentage points from July 2008. Ford’s share for the first seven months of 2009 was 9.1 percent, an increase of 0.5 percentage points from the same period a year ago.

In total, Ford sold 125,200 new vehicles in its main 19 European markets in July, up 5 percent, making it the second month in a row this year that Ford has posted a sales increase from the prior year period. Ford’s 5 percent volume increase contrasts to a 1.5 percent industry decline in the same month.

“As we are moving into the second half of the year, we are encouraged to see Ford at a 10-year high market share for July and, as a result of this, firmly established as Europe's second best-selling new vehicle brand in Europe,” said Ingvar Sviggum, Ford of Europe’s vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service.

The sales success was driven by strong customer demand for the latest Ford products across the line-up, including the Fiesta, new Ka, and best-selling Focus. The company’s product portfolio allowed it to improve market share in 13 of its main 19 European markets. The improving European results follows news of positive sales performance in other key Ford markets around the world in July, including China, the U.S. and Canada.

In the first seven months of 2009, Ford of Europe registered 871,400 vehicles in its 19 main markets, down 7.3 percent over the same period in 2008. This compares with a total industry decline of 12.2 percent in that period.

“We're also pleased to have increased sales volume for the second consecutive month, while the industry is still declining,” said Sviggum. “The industry figures show, however, that despite the positive impact of various national vehicle scrappage schemes, the overall trend is still negative and the underlying market weak.”

Sviggum added: “We strongly believe that these incentive schemes should continue for as long as practically possible, and then be phased out in an orderly manner to avoid any dramatic reduction in market demand that could damage the still fragile improvement we have seen in recent months.”

July Market and Model Sales Highlights:
Markets:

Ford was market leader in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Hungary; in Hungary, share was at 17.8, up by 7.8 ppts. on the same period 2008, the highest share since 1994.
Ford’s sales volume in Germany increased by 45 percent (while industry grew 24 percent) in July, and the company had its highest monthly share there since June 2004.
Similarly, Ford Austria’s July sales were up by 45 percent, to a record high for the month of July since 1994.
Ford continues to be the leading imported brand in Italy, with volume up by 35 percent, despite the Italian industry being up by only 3 percent in July.
Sixty-one percent of Ford passenger cars sold went to retail customers in the Euro 19 markets, up from 47 percent in July 2008.
Ford was among the three best-selling brands in 13 of 19 European markets.

Models:

Ford of Europe’s three top-selling vehicles (19 main markets) were the Fiesta (39,900), the Focus (28,700), and new Ka (10,500).
In Germany, the Fiesta became segment leader in July, the first time since the vehicle’s market entry there in October 2008.
In the U.K., where Fiesta sales were up by over 26 percent vs. the same month 2008, Fiesta remained the industry’s best-selling vehicle.
In June, Fiesta was both Europe's second best-selling car and the leader in the small car segment.
In July, 39,900 Fiestas were delivered to customers in Europe - 14,500 units more than the previous Fiesta model sold in July 2008.
New Ford Ka continues to be a success in the market despite the economic downturn. Ford sold 10,500 units in July (up 7,500 on July last year).
Ford Focus remained No. 2 best-selling vehicle across the industry in the U.K., behind the Fiesta.
The Ford C-MAX was the best-selling foreign vehicle in its segment in France.
Transit had its best July performance since 2003 (Euro 19 markets).

July Year-To-Date Market and Model Highlights
Markets:

Market leader in the U.K., Ireland and Hungary.
Italy (share up by 2.0 ppts. to 9.7 percent) and the U.K. (up by 1.5 ppts. to 17.9 percent share) had the highest share gains in the five largest markets in the first seven months of 2009.
Year-to-date sales volume increased by 37 percent in Germany (vs. an increase of 21.3 percent for the industry).
Ford was among the three best-selling brands in 12 of its Euro19 markets.

Models:

The three best-selling vehicles in the first seven months of 2009 were the newFiesta (277,700), Focus (183,600) and Transit (70,300).
In the first seven months of 2009, Fiesta sales were up 75,000 over the sameperiod in 2008. Approximately 340,000 Fiestas have been sold since the car was launched last autumn. Seventy-four percent of all Fiestas sold year-to-date were to retail customers (Euro19 markets).
62,300 Ford Ka vehicles were delivered to Ford customers this year. Eighty percent of all Ka sales (Euro 19 markets) year-to-date were to retail customers.
The Ford C-MAX was leading its segment in Italy, as was the Focus Wagon.
Ford S-MAX, Focus and Mondeo were among the top three sellers in their segments in Spain for the first seven months of 2009.
Kuga saw highest sales growth in the compact SUV segment year-to-date in Spain.
Focus was best-selling industry vehicle in the first seven months in Hungary in 2009.

July 2009 sales volume (in registrations)

	July 09	July YTD 09
Industry Euro 19 ¹	1,397,400 down 21,800 / (1.5) % vs. 07/08	9,541,300 down 1,322,900 / (12.2) % vs. 07/08
Ford Euro 19 ¹	125,200 up 6,000 / 5.0 % vs. 07/08	871,400 down 68,900 / (7.3) % vs. 07/YTD 08
Industry 21 (Euro 19 + Russia,Turkey)	1,543,600 down 207,600 / (11.9) % vs.07/08	10,745,600 down 2,304,700 / (17.7)% vs. 07/08
Ford Euro 21 (Euro 19 + Russia,Turkey)	135,900 down 8,700 / (6.0) % vs. 07/08	968,200 down 136,000 / (12.3) % vs. 07/YTD 08
Total Ford EURO 51² (Euro 21+ EDM 30)³	136,500 down 13,400 / (8.9) % vs. 07/08	977,200 down 176,700 / (15.3) % vs. 07/YTD 08

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.

July 2009 market share ⁴

	July 09	July YTD 09
Euro 19	9.0 % up 0.6 ppts. vs. July 08	9.1 % up 0.5 ppts. vs. July YTD 08
Total EURO 21 (incl. Russia and Turkey)	8.8 % up 0.6 ppts. vs. July 08	9.0 % up 0.5 ppts. vs. July YTD 08

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

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

	July				July year-to-date
	July 09	o(u) July	July 09	o(u) July	July ytd	o(u) J ytd	July ytd	o(u) J ytd
	Volume	o(u) 08	Share	o(u) 08	Volume	o(u) 08	Share	o(u) 08
1. Germany	29,400	9,100	8.2 %	1.2 ppts	192,000	51,800	7.6 %	0.9 ppts.
2. UK	28,500	(3,700)	16.3 %	(1.7)	217,100	(50,700)	17.9 %	1.5
3. Italy	21,400	5,500	9.6 %	2.3	142,300	16,700	9.7 %	2.0
4. France	12,200	(600)	5.5 %	(0.1)	88,400	(200)	5.7 %	0.3
5. Spain	10,000	(300)	8.4 %	1.1	53,500	(39,800)	8.7 %	(0.9)
7. Russia	5,300	(13,800)	4.6 %	(2.1)	54,400	(62,400)	6.1 %	(0.2)

Top 5 markets ranked by Ford's share in July

	July				July year-to-date
	July 09	o(u) July	July 09	o(u) July	July ytd	o(u) J ytd	July ytd	o(u) J ytd
	Share	o(u) 08	Volume	o(u) 08	Share	o(u) 08	Volume	o(u) 08
1. Turkey	17.8 %	3.8 ppts	5,400	(800)	13.6 %	(0.9) ppts.	42,400	(4,700)
2. Hungary	17.6 %	7.8	800	(800)	14.4 %	2.7	7,300	(5,600)
3. UK	16.3 %	(1.7)	28,500	(3,700)	17.9 %	1.5	217,100	(50,700)
4. Ireland	15.6 %	2.4	800	(1,700)	15.5 %	2.0	9,100	(13,900)
5. Czech Rep.	11.0%	3.2	1,700	200	10.0 %	2.4	11,000	1,200

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

Model	July 09	o(u) July 08	July YTD 09	o(u) Jul. YTD 08
New Ka	10,500	10,500	62,300	62,300
Total Ka (prev./new)	10,500	7,500	64,000	30,300
New Fiesta	39,900	39,900	277,700	277,700
Total Fiesta (prev./new)	40,000	14,500	282,000	76,800
Fusion	4,100	(1,200)	33,700	(10,800)
Focus	28,700	(2,700)	183,600	(52,200)
Focus CC	700	(300)	6,300	(1,400)
C-MAX	6,800	(1,200)	47,900	(24,000)
Kuga	5,900	2,400	35,500	26,400
Mondeo	8,900	(4,200)	69,800	(35,900)
S-MAX	3,800	(1,200)	25,400	(11,600)
Galaxy	2,300	(500)	16,400	(4,800)
Transit	8,600	(5,400)	70,300	(40,500)
Transit Connect	3,300	(1,200)	23,000	(15,700)
Ranger	800	(200)	8,200	(2,100)

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