MotorMartin is happy to share the good news regarding Ford sales in the UK as reported from their Brentwood headquarters last Thursday. UK market leader Ford recorded 101,598 65-plate registrations during September and October, as it stretched its sales leads in total vehicle, car and commercial vehicles.
According to the official October sales figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT): Ford is the UK market leader in total vehicle, car and CV sales, the Fiesta is still the UKs best-selling car. Ford’s car sales lead has increased by 20 per cent, compared with October 2014 and Ford has five models in the UK Top 20 – Fiesta (1st), Focus (4th), Transit Custom (9th), Transit (16th) and Kuga (18th)
Sharing this good news with MotorMartin, Andy Barratt, Ford of Britain chairman and managing director, said: “Ford is building on the strength of its core models in the UK market, while stretching into new segments with models such as Mustang, Mondeo Vignale and Ford Edge.”
Andy Barratt continued to say, “The Fiesta is in its seventh year as the UK market leader, while the success of our extended Ford CV family is demonstrated by Transit range sales exceeding those of any car – apart from Fiesta. Our strong results are a direct result of the wider range of these exciting new models – delivered through our dealer partners, who make up the strongest network in the UK.”
Backing up these strong words are the official sales figures released by the SMMT today showing that total car sales in October were down 1.1 per cent to 177,664 units, compared with October 2014. Ford car sales were 22,081, 6,190 registrations ahead of its nearest rival. For the year to date (end October) total UK car sales were 2,274,550, up 6.4 per cent compared with the same period in 2014. Ford car sales for this period were 290,409, some 62,418 registrations ahead of its nearest rival.
Ford is also the clear leader in retail car sales, which most accurately reflect the preferences of private buyers. For October, Ford’s retail car sales beat a shrinking retail market and increased 8.2 per cent, compared with October 2014. At 13.1 per cent, Ford’s retail car sales share was 5.1 percentage points ahead of its nearest rival, and for the year to date, Ford’s retail car sales share was 12.3 per cent, a lead of 4.2 percentage points.
The Ford Fiesta is the UK’s top seller and in October it recorded 8,577 registrations, 3,516 ahead of its nearest rival. With total registrations of 116,631 for the year to date, the Ford Fiesta is the UK best seller by a significant margin – 38,735 sales and 1.7 percentage points of market share ahead of its nearest competitor. MotorMartin will be finding out the appeal of the new Fiesta with a test of a sporty looking 1 litre turbo model in a few weeks time and I can’t wait.
The variety of vehicles produced by Ford and the broad customer appeal present across their car range is demonstrated by the Fiesta, B-MAX, Focus, C-MAX, Kuga and Galaxy all occupying top three places in their respective market segments, infact Ford Kuga sales are at the highest level since it was launched with October registrations of 2,343, up 12.0 per cent, compared with October 2014, and sales for the year to date of 27,948, up 33.1 per cent, compared with the same period in 2014.
Despite a slight decline in new car registrations Ford has continued to show that with good quality products appealing to a wide range of differing customers needs it is still possible to increase sales in a difficult marketplace.
Where will you go?