Ford Ramps Up C-MAX Production in Europe to Meet Increasing Demand

American automaker Ford has announced that it will have to increase production of the five-seater C-MAX and seven-seater Grand C-MAX by 18 percent on a daily basis at the company’s plant in Valencia, Spain, in order to keep up with increasing demand.

Since the launch of the new model last year, sales have nearly doubled, surpassing the 100,000 mark. The Blue oval people mover is top of its segment in Italy with a 27 stake in the market and in Ireland with 23 percent, with Ford adding the model has doubled its segment sales share this year in all of its traditional 19 European markets compared to 2010.

“We expected a strong customer demand for the Ford C-MAX and Ford Grand C-MAX, but demand has exceeded our expectations,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe. “Sales of the all-new Ford C-MAX will contribute to our expectation that around 40 per cent of all the new vehicles we sell in Europe this year will be totally new or significantly freshened models.”

On the European market, the C-MAX was the first Ford to get the firm's all-new 1.6-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost petrol engines with direct injection, turbocharging and twin independent variable valve timing.

The five-seat C-MAX keeps the seating arrangement from the old model with three individual folding seats, and the option of a Comfort system that allows the outer seats to slide diagonally backwards and inwards to create a 2+2 layout, while the longer Grand C-MAX features three rows of seats in a 2+3+2 layout that can be switched to a 2+2+2 layout.