Small Cars and Commercial Vehicles Spur May 2006 Sales Ford Europe Sales

COLOGNE, June 16, 2006 – Spurred by double-digit gains in small cars and commercial vehicles, European sales of Ford brand vehicles in May jumped 11 per cent from a year ago to 157,200 units.

"Ford sales regained momentum in May, especially in key markets such as Great Britain and Italy. We expect that strong pace to continue as availability of the all-new S-MAX and Galaxy extends across Europe and customers take advantage of our expanding product range," said Stephen Odell, Ford of Europe vice president of marketing, sales and service.

Ford Fiesta closed the month with sales of 32,100 units, an increase of 15 per cent from May 2005. Sales of the Ford Fusion in May were 9,800, up 40 per cent. Including Fiesta and Fusion, sales of Ford's small cars so far in 2006 totalled more than 213,000 units, a 13 per cent gain from the respective period of 2005. Both vehicles received exterior and interior upgrades late last year to complement their acclaimed driving dynamics.

Ford Transit and Transit Connect continued their strong performance in the commercial vehicles sector in Europe, reporting a 17 per cent increase for May, with 30,800 units sold. This brings the total of commercial vehicles sold from the beginning of the year to 136,100 units, nearly 8 per cent higher than the same period in 2005.

Ford is launching a new version of the Transit across Europe. Already Europe's leading commercial vehicle nameplate, the new Transit offers a host of new driver-focused technologies and a more car-like driving experience.

Ford's May and year-to-date results reflect sales from its 21 European markets, including Turkey and Russia. Market share for May was 9.2 per cent, up 0.1 points versus May 2005. Total Ford retail sales between January and May 2006 were 741,300 units, a 3 per cent gain from the prior year. Market share for the year-to-date period was 8.9 per cent, equal to prior year.

Ford's most successful markets in Europe in the first five months of 2006 in terms of market share were Turkey (16.4 per cent) and Britain (16.3 per cent), both countries where Ford is market leader.