OREANDA-NEWS. Ford’s European vehicle sales increased again in September driven by strong demand for its all-new or significantly freshened vehicle line-up, led by the new Mondeo, the company’s SUV range and commercial vehicle family.

Ford sold a total of 140,300 vehicles in its 20 traditional European markets last month, and 978,800 vehicles in the first nine months of the year – a year-over-year increase of 8 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.

The company’s total vehicle market share was 8.9 per cent September and 8.1 per cent year-to-date, the best total vehicle share for the first three quarters since 2011. Ford was the No. 1 brand for commercial vehicles sales in Europe in both September and year-to-date, up from No. 7 in 2012, and remains Europe’s No. 2 selling brand in Europe for total vehicle and passenger car sales.

"We offer our customers not only one of the freshest and broadest vehicle line-ups in the industry, but also a wide range of technology options, including our fuel efficient EcoBoost petrol engines,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe. “Today, one of four cars is ordered with Ford EcoBoost technology, and one of five with the multi-award winning 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine.”

The company’s combined sales in the retail and fleet market accounted for 73 per cent of its passenger car sales in September and in the first nine months, 1 percentage points and 3 percentage points better than industry average, respectively.

Ford said it was also seeing a strong take rate for more upscale and well-equipped versions of its vehicles, such as Titanium series.

Passenger Car Sales
Ford’s momentum comes on the back of growth across the company’s product range, led by new model introductions.

Almost 10,000 European customers have ordered the all-new Ford Mustang which went on-sale in Europe this summer for the first time in the iconic Muscle car’s 51-year history.

Sales of the all-new Mondeo were up 45 per cent year-over-year in September and up 60 per cent year-to-date. Customer orders for the new Focus were up nearly 37 per cent in September. The Fiesta continued to be the best-selling small car in Europe for the first eight months of 2015, according to Jato Dynamics.

Ford’s SUV range also continued to increase sales. Kuga sales in September and year-to-date were the highest since the launch of the first-generation Kuga in 2008. Sales of the EcoSport compact SUV doubled in September compared to September 2014. 

Commercial Vehicle Sales
Ford was No. 1 in commercial vehicles sales in September and year-to-date as demand continued to grow for its completely new and expanded Transit range – including Transit, Transit Custom, Transit Connect and Transit Courier – and the Ranger pickup. Commercial vehicle sales were up 26 per cent year-to-date. Market share for the period was up 1.5 percentage points at 12.8 per cent, the best share performance in almost two decades. Customer orders for Transit grew 25 per cent in September.

Demand for the Ranger pickup continued to grow with September sales up 17 per cent, the best September and first three quarters since the model’s launch in 1999. Customer orders for Ranger were up 73 per cent in September. The Ranger claimed the No. 1 sales position in the European pickup market in the first seven months this year, according to the latest available data.

Market highlights
Ford closed a strong September and year-to-date across many markets in Europe.
Ford was market leader in total vehicle sales in the UK in September and year-to-date, in Ireland in September and in Hungary year-to-date, and achieved market share improvements in 12 of its 20 traditional European markets, including Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, and Poland, plus at its Turkish joint venture, Ford Otosan.