Ford Motor Co.: Fiesta And Focus Helped Ford Of Europe's Market Share Grow In April

April Ford sales down by 7.4 per cent versus 16.5 per cent industry decline

COLOGNE, May 12, 2009 – Ford continued to increase its European market share last month, both for the month of April and for the year-to-date, further consolidating its position as the No.2 best-selling car brand in Europe.

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With 120,000 vehicles sold, Ford's total vehicle market share in April rose by 0.9 percentage points to 9.0 per cent. April year-to-date share was 9.3 per cent, up from 8.7 per cent in the same period last year.

The industry overall declined by 16.5 per cent in April (19 main European markets). In contrast, Ford sales decreased by only 7.4 per cent, with 9,600 fewer units sold than in April 2008.

A key driver for Ford of Europe's success relative to the overall market performance has been the performance of its new small cars, the Fiesta and Ka:

* In April alone, 43,000 new Fiestas were sold
* Since the start of the year, more than 151,000 new Fiestas have been delivered to customers
* Since the car was first introduced last Autumn, almost 213,000 have been registered
* The all-new model is the fastest-selling Fiesta ever, and Ford of Europe's best-selling model in April and year-to-date
* Only a few weeks after market introduction, the Ford Ka sold 9,100 units in April and 32,100 units year-to-date. This was Ka's best-selling April since 2002 and the best-selling year-to-date performance since 2004

"We are pleased to see our market share continue to grow both in April and in the year-to-date, largely driven by strong demand for our Ka, Fiesta and Focus models," said Ingvar Sviggum, vice-president marketing, sales and service, Ford of Europe.

"Ford is consolidating its position as the No.2 best-selling car brand in Europe. It's clear that more and more customers are changing to Ford because of our extremely strong product portfolio, including the new Fiesta which – despite the weakness in the overall European new car market – is our fastest-selling Fiesta ever."

"Our improving trend makes me cautiously optimistic that our sales will be enhanced further once the newly-announced scrappage initiative in the UK gets fully underway in the coming months," said Mr. Sviggum.

April performance
The three best-selling Ford models in the 19 main European markets in April were the new Fiesta (43,000), the Focus (24,000), the Mondeo (9,400) and the new Ka (9,100).

The company's leading market in April was Britain, selling 28,300 new vehicles. Although sales were down by 4,200 units from the same month in 2008, the market share rose to a market-leading 18.7 per cent, up 3.1 percentage points compared to April last year. The Focus was Britain's best-selling car in April, ahead of the Fiesta, which showed a sales surge of more than 37 per cent versus April last year.

The industry in Germany was up 14 per cent in April versus the same month in 2008, driven again by the government's scrappage scheme. Ford outperformed the market by selling 27,700 vehicles, up by 19.6 per cent or 4,500 units. This resulted in a market share of 7.4 per cent for the blue oval, an improvement of 0.7 percentage points over the same period last year.

Ford also performed strongly in Italy. April sales rose 4,600 units or 28.7 per cent to 20,800, lifting market share by 3.0 percentage points versus April 2008, and achieving a double-digit result of 10 per cent. Ford remained Italy's leading import brand and the Fiesta was the best-selling imported car.

In France, Ford's total vehicle share for April was 5.9 per cent, up 0.7 percentage points from April 2008 and the highest monthly share since January 2000.

Across all of its 51 European markets, Ford sold 137,100 vehicles in April 2009, down 15 per cent or 24,100, when compared to the same month last year.

Year-to-date performance
In the first four months of 2009, Ford of Europe sold 471,700 vehicles in its main 19 markets, a reduction of 79,200 vehicles or 14.4 percentage points over the same period in 2008. This compares to an overall industry decline of 18.3 per cent. Ford's market share soared by 0.6 percentage points to 9.3 per cent.

Ford of Britain sold 125,800 vehicles, down 38,200 or 23.3 per cent, when compared to last year. The UK industry was down by 31 per cent during the same period. However, Ford's market share in Britain has continued to rise in the first four months of the year, resulting in 18.3 per cent - up by 1.9 percentage points from the first four months of 2008. The Fiesta remains Britain's best-selling car for 2009 year-to-date.

Ford of Germany increased its sales over the first four months of the year by 28.8 per cent. It sold 92,300 new vehicles, an increase of 20,600 over the first four months of 2008. Market share for the period rose to 7.4 per cent, up 1.2 percentage points when compared to the same period in 2008.

Over the first four months of 2009, Ford Italy sold 79,100 vehicles, up 700 units, while market share rose by 2.0 percentage points to 9.9 per cent. Fiesta rose from third to second place in the list of best-selling vehicles in Italy.

Year-to-date market share for Ford France also increased by 0.4 percentage points to 5.7 per cent, with sales of 47,500, a reduction of 5,300 units on 2008.

The market in Spain, remains one of the most depressed in Europe. The industry fell by 45 per cent, with Ford sales totaling 25,400 (a reduction of 28,800). Ford's market share there was down as well to 8.4 per cent, a reduction of 1.4 percentage points.

In Russia, 37,300 sales (although down by 22,300 versus the same period last year) enabled Ford's market share for the first three months of the year to rise by 1.2 percentage points to 7.2 per cent.

Year-to-date April, Ford of Europe sold 541,600 vehicles in its 51 markets, a reduction of 121,500 or 18.3 percentage points versus the first four months of 2008.

Source: Ford Motor Co.