OREANDA-NEWS. Ford Ranger is leaving rivals chocking in its dust following a storming start to 2015 in Germany.

Ford sold 2,605 Rangers in Germany in the first half of the year, boosting segment share to 33.8 per cent. Last month, almost one-in-four new pickups registered in Germany wore a Ranger badge.

And Ranger’s dominance looks set to continue there with a new redesigned model planned to go on sale in the first quarter of 2016.

Ranger’s performance is just one of several Ford commercial vehicle highlights of the year so far in Germany. Ford Transit Connect, which was first launched at the end of 2013, sold 2,922 units - up 99.3 percent compared to the first six months of 2014.

While total industry registrations in the first half total rose 2.4 per cent versus prior year to 155,922 units, Ford sales soared 30.1 per cent to 16,758 units. Ford's overall commercial vehicle market share was up 2.3 percentage points to 10.7 per cent.

“This sales success is the result of a product offensive in which Ford commercial vehicles play an important role,” said Wolfgang Kopplin, Managing Director Marketing and Sales, Ford of Germany.

“We managed to completely renew our commercial vehicle line-up in less than two years. This success was of course significantly helped by our dealer partners, of which many have now become specialized Ford Transit Centres.”

Ford now operates a network of 750 Ford Transit Centres across Europe, 225 of which are located in Germany. Customers benefit from extended opening hours, a pickup and delivery service as well as specially trained Ford commercial vehicle personnel.