OREANDA-NEWS. Ford increased its market share in European Direct Markets in 2015, in spite of political and economical uncertainty in the region.

 Overall Ford sold 29,052 cars and commercial vehicles across 25 EDMs last year, giving a market share of 5.5 per cent.

Ford has local distributors in 25 countries in the region - Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Belorussia, Croatia, Estonia, Gibraltar, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and  Ukraine.

This year Ford plans to enter three new EDM markets, as well as opening 20 new FordStores and a further 35 premium showrooms.

Viktor Moln?r, Ford’s regional managing director, explained: “Our success can be attributed to several factors. An essential part has been played by Ford’s competitively priced, renewed model range representing outstanding quality and especially the Transit range, which celebrated its 50th birthday last year with a 33 per cent increase in sales.

“We’ve also benefited from the outstanding popularity of the Ranger, as well as the success of the recently launched EcoSport, and the Kuga which has a 35 per cent market share. In 2016, Ford’s SUV model line-up is to be further expanded, with the launch of the brand new Edge, a premium category SUV, of which a lot is expected. The iconic Mustang launched after a long wait in 2015 and the Vignale also contributed to our success.”

Ford has 190 authorized dealers in the region. L?szl? Szecsei, Ford’s network development director in charge of EDM, said:  “It’s a priority for us to further improve the standard of authorized dealerships. This is why we are planning to open 20 new FordStores and another 35 premium showrooms in 2016. FordStores will deliver the same exclusive customer experience in the region, that we have become accustomed to in Western Europe and in Hungary.”

?kos M?sz?ros, sales director in charge of EDM, is predicting modest growth in the region in 2016. “We expect to see stabilisation with more substantial expansion in the right hand drive and CEE markets. With the launch of the EDGE, we expect a further improvement in our position in the SUV segment and the market of commercial vehicles where the brand new version of the Ranger will appear early this year. We also have high expectations regarding our brand new entry level model, the Ka+. It is expected to enter the local markets in the fourth quarter of the year, generating  incremental sales of 500 units.”