Ford is upbeat about its sales prospects in Asia-Pacific, particularly for Thailand, which is strategically positioned as its production base for the Asean market.
Asia-Pacific contributed around 60-70% of global sales for Ford last year, mainly from its sub-compact cars and pick-up trucks. Matt Bradley, Asean president for Ford, told the Bangkok Post that the company hit 1m sales in Asia last year with 87,623 in Asean, up 27% from a year earlier.
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The Fiesta is its leading passenger car and the Ranger its best-selling pick-up. Bradley said: “Asia-Pacific shows potential growth in car sales driven by the region’s economic strength.”
Most of Ford’s Asean sales last year were in Thailand, some 54,865 units, up 88% over 2011 thanks to the government’s first-time car buyer scheme. However, overall domestic auto sales are forecast to drop to between 1.2 and 1.3m units this year from 1.4m last year.
Bradley said he is confident that Ford can maintain sales momentum with the Fiesta, Ranger and the new Focus. For the first two months of this year, the company reported combined sales of 10,141, up from 6,656 units in the same period in 2012.
He added: “Ford estimates the Thai market can achieve domestic sales of more than 1m units for a second consecutive year in 2013.”
Ford introduced its new Ecosport compact SUV at the Bangkok show this week. It plans to start manufacturing the model in the fourth quarter of this year at its plant in Rayong. The factory currently produces 160,000 Focus models annually.
