Ford Extends Sales Lead In UK

Mark Ovenden, Ford Britain managing director, said: "Ford’s car range is proving its strong customer appeal, starting the year with a sales performance that extends our lead in total car sales including sales to private customers, an indicator that the quality of our market share also continues to be enhanced.

“This year our best-ever range of vehicles has benefitted already from the introductions of the new Ford Ranger and the highly fuel-efficient, 125PS EcoBoost engine in Ford Focus. We will continue to launch new models and ingenious technologies that meet our customers’ increasingly sophisticated needs: a typical example is the recently announced Ford B-MAX with its exciting, innovative design that provides unique access for drivers, passengers and luggage."

The official figures released by the SMMT today show that total car sales last month were up marginally 0.03 per cent to 128,853 units, compared with January 2011.

Ford car sales of 20,061 were up 2.0 per cent, from 19,657 in January 2011.

Significantly, Ford's retail car market share in January was 14.6 per cent, 1.5 percentage points up from the same month in 2011. Ford increased its retail car sales lead over its nearest rival by 69 per cent, from 2,268 to 3,843, and it increased its total car sales lead 83 per cent, from 4,346 to 7,951.

Sales of the UK’s best-selling Ford Fiesta range were 7,824 - up from 5,844 in January 2011. Fiesta also increased its share of car sales from 4.5 per cent to 6.1 per cent. There were also increases in sales and share for the Ford Ka, the Ford C-MAX range and the Ford Mondeo.

UK commercial vehicle sales were down 7.6 per cent, compared with January 2011. The LCV and MCV segments in which Ford competes were down 58.9 and 9.9 per cent, respectively. Sales of Ford commercials in January were down from 4,675 to 3,845, compared with the same month last year.

Ford medium commercials, headed by the industry-leading Ford Transit, accounted for around one-in-four sales in that segment in January. Ford’s share of MCV sales was 24.3 per cent, down from 27.3 per cent in January 2011. Ford’s share of light commercial sales was 48.7 per cent, up from 21.9 per cent in January 2011.