Ford reported a 19.8 percent increase in European market share compared to the same month last year – helping to bring Ford to its highest year-to-date market share since 1999. The strong showing for November follows Ford’s strongest October sales in the European market in 12 years.
According to Ford , the increase in market share can be largely attributed to the strong consumer sales across its lineup compared to last year.
Roelant de Waard, Ford of Europe’s vice president of sales, said, “In November, 63 percent of our car sales were to retail customers, 13 percentage points up on last year. Last month, 77 percent of Fiesta, 74 percent of Ka, 73 percent of Kuga and 69 percent of Fusion sales were to retail customers.”
Not only do stronger consumer demands help to drive up market share and total volume, it is also more profitable on average than fleet sales, according to De Waard.
Ford has also benefited from several programs similar to the American “Cash for clunkers” government subsidy program in major markets such as the United Kingdom, Germany and France. The government programs called for the trade-in of older, less fuel-efficient models in exchange for a discount on a newer, “greener” model and did well with Ford’s strong European small car offerings.
Ford was the top automaker in the United Kingdom and Ireland in November – a market where Ford typically enjoys strong sales and market share. Ford also reported being the top imported brand in both France and Italy for November.
The European new car market is down six percent compared to a year ago through the first 11 months, with Ford beating the industry average decline with a year-to-date decline of just 1.4 percent.
