Another month and another report of excellent sales has arrived up on the top floor here at MotorMartin Towers, indeed it will soon become time to install a direct hotline from Ford straight through if these sales continue. Ford have therefore shared with MotorMartin that their total UK sales exceeded 30,000 and led the industry in January, with a 7.4 per cent increase over January 2016. Ford CV sales increased to over 8,000 for the month, the highest January sales volume since 1990, and market share increased to 35.8 per cent. Pretty good going in MotorMartin’s eyes.
Highlights of the January sales figures issued today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and explained to MotorMartin include:
Ford total vehicle sales 30,586, up from 28,466 in January 2015
Ford total vehicle sales share 15.6 per cent, 7.5 percentage points ahead of nearest rival
Ford CV record highest January sales volume since 1990
Fiesta is the UK best seller; Transit Custom and Transit, 1st and 2nd in CV segment
Fiesta, C-MAX, Ranger, Transit, Transit Custom, Transit Connect, Transit Courier and Fiesta van all lead their respective segments
Andy Barratt, Ford of Britain chairman and managing director, commented to MotorMartin that: “In January more than 30,000 UK car and van drivers picked up new Fords, delivering 15 per cent of the market – our highest share in two and a half years. Having enjoyed our biggest January volume since 1990, we’re now looking at another sales peak to come in March. With the Vehicle Excise Duty – or road tax – system changing significantly from April, we anticipate another strong month as buyers move fast to avoid the tax increase.”
According to the official SMMT figures, January car sales in the UK were up 2.9 per cent at 174,564 registrations, compared with January 2015. Ford sold 22,560 cars in January, up 2.7 per cent, compared with January 2016. Ford’s car sales lead over its nearest rival was 8,752, an increase of 30 per cent, compared with January 2016.
Ford are rightly proud to announce that they remain the clear leader in retail car sales, which most accurately reflect the preferences of private buyers. At 12.6 per cent, Ford’s January retail car sales share was 4.5 percentage points ahead of its nearest rival.
Unsurprisingly, in MotorMartin’s opinion, the Ford Fiesta has been the best-selling small car in Europe for four years and the UK best-seller for eight years. It remains the best-seller in the UK by a significant margin with 8,495 sales and a 4.9 per cent market share in January, 3,040 sales and 1.8 percentage points of market share ahead of its nearest competitor. Fiesta also leads UK retail sales with 4,568 registrations, 2,035 ahead of its nearest rival.
The strength and breadth of the Ford model range is demonstrated by Fiesta (1st), B-MAX (4th), Focus (2nd), C-MAX (1st), EcoSport (5th), Kuga (3rd), Mondeo (5th), Galaxy (2nd) and Mustang (2nd) all featuring near, or at, the top of their segments in January.
UK commercial vehicle sales in January were up 1.2 per cent at 21,363, compared with January 2016. Sales of Ford CVs were up 22.4 per cent at 7,709, compared with January 2016. Ford’s CV market share in January was 36.1 per cent, up from 29.8 per cent in January 2016 and marks Ford highest CV share since January 1990.
Ford is entering its 52nd year of UK CV market leadership and it has been confirmed that in 2016 it was also the most popular CV brand in Europe.
Ford’s fresh and extended CV range is delivering record levels of CV sales with CV registrations more than double those of its nearest rival. Fiesta Van (1st), Transit Courier (1st), Transit Connect (1st), Transit Custom (1st), Transit (1st) and Ranger (1st) are all placed first in their respective market segments.
All of which leads those here at the Towers to congratulate Ford UK on a quite exceptional set of figures and more evidence that the motor industry is continuing with it’s current upward trajectory and isn’t that reason enough to celebrate?
Where will you go?