Ford's European Sales Down 24.8 Percent

Ford Motor Company, aka the only Detroit 3 member that could remain in business even without government support, continued to experience poor sales in November, with Europe unveiling a 21.4 percent drop when compared to the same month of 2007. According to figures provided by the American carmaker, Ford of Europe delivered 95,700 vehicles in 19 European markets in November with Focus (22,300 units), the new Fiesta (18,100 units) and Mondeo (11,500 units) among the best sellers of this month.

But even so, Ford proudly announced that it managed to increase its market share by 0.5 points to 8.8 percent, with United Kingdom achieving the highest market share (18.9 percent).

"We are proud that in such a difficult economic environment we could further increase our market share," said Ingvar Sviggum, vice president, marketing, sales and service, Ford of Europe. "And we are particularly pleased that through the year we have steadily reinforced our position as the number two brand in the main 19 European markets.

Ford says it delivered 117,000 vehicles across its 51 European markets, which represents a 24.8 percent decrease when compared to November 2007.

More importantly, the number of Ford's sold vehicles in 2008 in the main 19 European markets now totals 1,353,100 units, down 6.4 percent compared to the first 11 months of the last year. In addition, figures revealed that Ford delivered nearly 1,665,000 units so far this year in all 51 European markets, a 4.4 percent decrease when compared to the same period last year.

“Year-to-date, Ford's market share is 8.7 per cent, versus 8.6 per cent in the first 11 months of 2007,” Ford concluded, pointing out that its increasing market share is extremely important in the context of global economic crisis.