Ford’s sales continue to slip here in the United States and Europe as a whole, but scrappage incentives appear to be helping the Blue Oval in Europe’s two largest markets. Ford’s sales were up big in Germany and Italy — Europe’s number one and two auto markets, respectively – but continued to decline in other major markets, such as the UK.
In Germany — where incentives are in place to replace older vehicles with newer, more fuel efficient models — Ford sales were up 39.6 percent in March, totaling 28,300 units, according to Automotive News. Ford’s most fuel efficient cars saw the strongest sales growth in German, with the economical Fiesta posting its best sales month since 1998. In Italy, where scrapping incentives are also in place, Ford enjoyed a 21.7 percent March sales boost, up to 23,800 vehicles.
However, in Great Britain, where no scrapping laws are in place, Ford saw its sales sag more than 26 percent to just 62,300 March sales. As a whole, Ford’s March sales in Europe were down 16.3 percent.
While it’s hard to determine if scrappage incentives alone were responsible for the sales spike, it would seem that they at least helped Ford’s March sales. The U.S. is considering scrappage programs similar to those in place in Germany and Italy, so it will be interesting to see if those results sway a few minds on Capitol Hill.
