Ford reports June and first half European sales; Industry sales at nearly two decade low

Ford Motor Company reported that its European sales fell 10 per cent in the first half of year as auto sales across Europe fell to their lowest levels in nearly two decades.

Through June, Ford has sold 617,600 new vehicles in its traditional 19 markets, resulting in an 8.1 per
cent market share.  In June, Ford's sales decreased by 16.1 per cent to 100,400 units, with a market share of 7.3 per cent.

"The economic environment remains very difficult, obviously, and we are balancing the need to be price competitive, while remaining committed to improving net pricing, building brand strength and protecting residual values," said Roelant de Waard, Vice-President, Marketing, Sales and Services, Ford of Europe.

"In the second half the year, we have the opportunity to gain momentum with the launch of some very exciting new products, such as the all-new B-Max, a new Fiesta and the new Transit Custom, as well as new technologies like Ford SYNC. We believe this will give us the freshest lineup in the industry in 2013."

De Waard also noted the acclaimed 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine, which has exceeded sales expectations since launching in the Focus earlier this year, will soon be offered in the B-Max, C-Max and other vehicles.

Ford was the No. 2 best-selling brand in Europe for the first half 2012 (total vehicle sales in its traditional 19 European countries). Ford retained market leadership in the UK, Turkey and Hungary in both June and for the first half of the year.

The UK remained Ford's largest European market in the first six months of the year, with sales of 183,900 units, up by 1.2 per cent over the same period last year. Ford market share was 15.3 per cent. Ford has retained leadership in car sales in the UK for the past 35 successive years, and been the best-selling commercial vehicle brand for the past 46 consecutive years.

Ford sales in Russia and Eastern Europe were also up in the first six months of the year. In Russia, Ford sales rose 18.3 per cent to 63,400, while market share increased by 0.1 percentage points to 4.3 per cent. In Eastern Europe, Ford's sales rose by 14.7 per cent to 25,900 year-to-date.

In its total 51 markets in the European region, the Ford sales volume was 759,800 vehicles, down 8.9 per cent on the first half 2011.

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