Ford of Europe said its sales growth outpaced the overall industry in June and the first half of the year thanks to strong demand for new models such as the redesigned Mondeo sedan, Kuga and EcoSport SUVs, and Transit commercial vehicles.
The Cologne based automaker sold 126,800 vehicles in its 20 ‘traditional European markets’ in June and 668,800 in the first half – year on year increases of 15.8% and 10.5%, respectively. The overall market grew 15.1% in June and 8.6% in the first six months.
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Market share was 8.1% both for June and the first half of the year, up 0.1 percentage point and 0.2 percentage points, respectively.
Ford said the positive growth in Europe was driven largely by sales through higher value channels including the private retail and fleet segments. Combined sales in the retail and fleet market accounted for 71.3% of its passenger car sales in in the first six months, 2.3 percentage points better than industry average for the period. Sales to fleet customers improved particularly with the introduction of the new Mondeo [European version of the NAFTA Fusion] and updated Focus.
New or updated S-Max, Galaxy, C-Max, Mondeo Vignale and Mustang models reaching dealers this summer should provide a further boost, according to sales and marketing chief Roelant de Waard.
“This historic product push is well timed as we have started opening a network of flagship FordStores in cities across Europe, offering a truly modern and world class experience for customers,” he said.
Ford has 6,700 European pre-release orders for the Mustang which is going on sale officially in Europe for the first time Right hand drive will be available, too.
Sales of the redesigned Mondeo rose 55% year on year in the first half and custom orders almost quadrupled in June versus the same period in 2014.
Ford’s commercial vehicle market share rose by 0.2 and 2.0 percentage points to 11.8 and 12.5% in June and year to date, respectively, the best shares in almost two decades.
