As the first foreign car manufacturer to establish a production plant in Russia, Ford knows this lucrative eastern European market better than most.
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It’s 10 years now since the first blue oval brand models rolled off the St. Petersburg assembly line and the car giant hasn’t looked back since. The multi-award-winning Focus is currently the country’s top selling car and from next month, it’ll be joined by Mondeo on the assembly line.
Ford of Europe vice president of public affairs, Ian Slater, said: “We were the first non-domestic car brand to set up production in Russia and with the biggest investment. We’re on track to build 100,000 Focus and 25,000 Mondeos per year although it’s the SUV segment which currently enjoys the biggest percentage growth.”
Indeed with the all-new Kuga crossover being joined by the bigger Escape and Explorer models, plus the striking Explorer concept first seem at Detroit earlier this year, Ford is perfectly positioned for market dominance.
That said, Ford has recently being overtaken by Chevrolet in the sales charts.
Dennis Marfurtin, SUV brand manager, Ford Russia, added: “From 11.9% of the market in 2000 to 20.3% last year, SUVs are increasingly big business. With three Ford products competing in this segment, two of them all new, we are perfectly positioned to give new car buyers exactly what they want.”
Ford also unveiled the new Fiesta for the first time to a Russian audience, which will go on sale in October.
