Ford Does Well in Europe

Dearborn automaker Ford may have seen its market share in the all-important United States auto market drop, but it seems to be gaining ground in the European auto market. The Auto Channel recently reported that the automaker has reached record number of vehicles sold in Europe for the year 2007.

The automaker announced that last year, they have delivered 1,863,600 units in Europe. That figure corresponds to a sales increase of 5.4 percent. With sales dropping in the United States, the automaker sees a glimmer of hope in their European operation. Market share of the automaker has improved by 8.9 percent. This increase in sales is said to be the result of the automaker offering new and stylish vehicles in Europe.

Ford of Europe reported that they have sold 1,463,360 cars last year. That corresponds to an increase of 4.1 percent. The European arm of Ford also reported that they have delivered 369,985 units of commercial vehicles last year. In 2006, the automaker reported sales of 333,570 units of commercial vehicles thus showing an increase of 10.9 percent for 2007.

Among the stylish vehicles offered by Ford of Europe, the Ford Fiesta and the Focus pulls the more consumers. For the Focus, the automaker posted sales of 496,600 units while for the Fiesta, sales reached 378,220 units.

Stephen Odell, vice president for Marketing, Sales and Service at Ford of Europe said: "I am delighted with our performance in 2007. Including sales from our European Direct Markets, we sold close to 1.9 million vehicles last year. That's about 110,000 vehicles more than we sold in 2006. In 2006 we sold some 80,000 vehicles more than we did in 2005, so in the past two years we have added some 200,000 sales to our bottom-line."

"Selling over 100,000 more vehicles was a spectacular performance. Transit was up by 30,000 vehicles, Mondeo increased by 17,000 as we started to get full production of that model, S-MAX was up by 33,000 and Galaxy by more than 41 per cent to 10,000 units," added Odell.

The British auto market has been good for the automaker where they have sold the most vehicles among all European markets. Sales in the United Kingdom increased by 1.6 percent according to the automaker compared to 2006.

Stephen Odell also pointed out that they have had a great year in France and other European auto markets. "Our share in France was up to 5 per cent, which is a great recovery for us," said Odell. "Products like the C-MAX did very well, as did S-MAX and Galaxy. We also had a great year in Italy, selling 23,900 vehicles more than in prior year and increasing our share. We also did very well in Spain, especially with Mondeo and Fiesta. Turkey sold over 100,000 units, despite a lower industry in the first eight months of the year."

"To achieve record sales in a highly competitive market is testament to the strength of our product range," he added. "We have increased our sales every year since 2002 and it is clear that the performance, styling and quality of our cars and commercial vehicles are continuing to attract customers to the Ford brand. With more new models being launched this year, we are optimistic that we will maintain our sales momentum in 2008."

The automaker is expected to continue offering vehicles such as the Fiesta and the Focus in Europe equipped with reliable auto parts, as durable as Dodge brake pads.