Ford Gaining Market Share Thanks to High Trade-in Rate

Last year, Ford increased its market share in the U.S., the first full year achievement of this kind for the manufacturer since 1995. The company continued to follow this trend, as Ford has now gained market share for 16 of the previous 17 months. One of the reasons for this improvement is the fact that the brand has registered an increasing level of customers who are trading in vehicles from the competition.

The rate of customers who traded in competitive brands vehicles for Ford cars saw an 18 percent increase when comparing the 2005 and 2009 model year. The highest growth was registered by Lincoln, where the rate increased by 61 percent.

"We're finding that when customers of competing brands check out our new lineup and understand the quality, fuel efficiency and value we offer, they are increasingly becoming Ford owners," said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president of Marketing, Sales and Service. "The strength of our new products is making the difference in a very competitive marketplace."

The top Ford “customer pheromones” are the Fusion Hybrid, the Escape Hybrid and the Mustang: over 60 percent of those who traded an used vehicle for a Fusion Hybrid were new customers for the company. The same statistic applied to the Mustang returns a figure of 50 percent.

The top vehicles per brands are the Ford Taurus (new version), the Mercury Mariner Hybrid and the Lincoln MKX.

"We're seeing customers from competing brands in the showroom that we haven't seen in a long time, if ever," said Kevin Collins, president and owner of the Bill Collins Ford, Lincoln and Mercury dealership in Louisville, Ky.  "Customers have been looking at our products for two reasons. They are impressed with Ford products' quality improvement, and they are pleasantly surprised with our entire lineup. Ford is back on their shopping list."