Ford No. 2 Brand in Europe in March; Posts Major First Quarter Gains
Ford announced on Thursday that it was the No. 2 overall brand in Europe last month, delivering a total of 199,900 vehicles across the Euro 20 markets and seeing a year-over-year sales increase of 14%. Ford gained 0.3 percentage points of market share, finishing the month with a 9.2% share.
Ford’s passenger vehicle sales in the Euro 20 (Austria, Belgium, Britain, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Sweden, and Switzerland) were up 16% at 156,200 vehicles and market share was up 0.4 points at 8.3%. Commercial vehicle sales grew 9% at 43,700 vehicles, but market share declined 0.5 points at 15%.
Ford’s sales in the expanded Euro 50 markets totaled 215,900 units, up 13% year-over-year.
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“March was a stand-out month, with progress across the board,” said Roelant de Waard, Vice President, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe. “Significantly, Ford outpaced the market in the UK and Germany. Our SUVs and commercial vehicles continue to be popular choices for consumers and fleets respectively, and Fiesta is again our best-selling vehicle, growing 12% to 47,000 sales.”
Ford’s top five markets for March in terms of volume were Britain (92,500 units), Germany (31,600 units), Italy (19,000 units), France (12,900 units), and Spain (11,400 units)—the same order stands for the first quarter as well.
In terms of share, Ford was led by Britain (14.6%), Hungary (13.2%), Ireland (11.5%), Turkey (11.4%), and Romania (11.2%). Through the first quarter, the order is the same with Ireland and Turkey swapping positions.
Ford’s Euro 20 sales for the first quarter total 397,800 units, up 9.4% from Q1 2016. Overall industry growth in the first quarter was 7.9%.
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