With a lineup as strong and as tempting as Ford’s performance models, it’s no surprise to MotorMartin that sales of Ford’s performance cars in Europe have almost doubled this year, with close to 31,000 sold in the region August year-to-date – a massive 98 per cent up on 2015.
Ford have explained to MotorMartin that they will sell more than 200,000 performance cars globally this year, including Mustang, Focus RS, Focus ST and Fiesta ST – nearly double the volume of three years ago.
Rather incredibly, almost 14,000 of this year’s new Ford performance car deliveries in Europe have gone to eager UK buyers – up by 61 per cent from 8,675 in the same eight-month period last year. No doubt because of our superb taste and a historic appreciation of these blue collar heroes stretching back towards the sports Escorts and Sierras of yesteryear.
Both Focus RS and Ford Mustang 5.0-litre V8 GT featured in “Jeremy’s Star Cars” – a rundown of Clarkson’s top 10 drives of the past year, published by the Sunday Times in August. Over 5,050 Brits have ordered Focus RS since the award winner went on sale last year, while an additional 4,800 have opted for Mustangs and a quick watch of the short film below, kindly provided by BlackTopMedia, should leave you in no doubt as to why the Mustang is proving quite so incredibly popular here in the UK.
Younger, more affluent car buyers are choosing Ford for its growing line-up of performance vehicles – particularly cars – that get them where they need to go with added thrills.
“Ford’s commitment to performance leadership continues, with Ford on track to deliver 12 new performance vehicles promised by the end of the decade,” shared Dave Pericak, Ford Performance global director with MotorMartin.
Focus RS, recently introduced for the first time globally, has sold out in every region around the world, and customer orders in Europe have now exceeded 8,800 since launch.
Ford have now confirmed to MotorMartin that they have sold more than 38,000 Fiesta STs in Europe since the class-leading hot hatch was introduced in 2013, and sales were up 11 per cent August year-to-date compared with 2015. A new five-door version of the Fiesta ST is now available to order in Europe for the first time, and Ford earlier this year also revealed the new 200 PSFiesta ST200 – available in three-door bodystyle only – with 6.7sec0-62mph acceleration. A car that many of you are certainly getting very excited about with good justification.
And in more good news shared by Ford, European Focus ST sales were up 21 per cent August year-to-date compared with 2015, a great result.
Sales of Mustang, the world’s best-selling sports coupe in 2015, continue to grow in Europe and Asia Pacific after limited availability last year. Mustang customer orders in Europe have exceeded 20,000 since the car was launched late in 2015. Mustang has beaten rivals in the UK to become favourite high power sports car (250PS and over). MotorMartin definitely wants one, in blue of course.
Ford then, would seem to be perfectly positioned with the performance arm of their business at the moment as consumer demand for performance cars continues to grow. The Ford Performance brand is also increasing its vehicle portfolio with the all-new F-150 Raptor arriving in the U.S. during the fourth quarter before it then heads to China for the first time, too. And more than 6,500 consumers applied to own the first 500 Ford GT cars, which begin arriving late this year.
To try and top an already impressive year to date, Ford Performance recently announced it will offer the all-new Ford GT for two additional production years, bringing the production commitment to the carbon fibre supercar to a total of four years. Just time for MotorMartin to start saving up then.
A quick view of the video below, shared by Ford Performance from their own YouTube channel, will give you an idea about how exciting these superb, achievable sports cars really are. Congratulations Ford, you deserve it.
Where will you go?