7:12 pm, October 8, 2008
SMALL cars helped Ford grow its market share in September.
The blue oval is another maker that has won position in a falling market. And the 0.2 per cent gain comes, says the maker, through its strength in smaller cars.
Ford’s share is now 16.1 per cent for the year-to-date.
Most significantly, it’s share of the profitable retail sector is up. Figures show Ford sold 3750 more cars to private buyers than its nearest rival in September.
This confirms the trend for the year-to-date, where Ford has almost 20,000 more customers than the next manufacturer. Retail car buyers have given Ford a 12.8 per cent share of this market sector for the year-to-date – up 1 per cent on 12 months ago.
The sudden change of the market has been startling for the maker. Roelant de Waard, Ford of Britain chairman and managing director, said: ‘The scale and extent of the current economic downturn is unexpected.
‘However, Ford is well positioned to maintain its competitive position in a challenging market, with a comprehensive and fresh range of attractive, fuel efficient vehicles, that is being enhanced at just the right time by two all-new small car models.’
This month, the new Fiesta goes on sale, with the new Ka joining it in showrooms from January.
The maker’s also well positioned to meet growing demand for green models. Sales of all Fords with CO2 under 120g/km have risen by a third so far this year compared with the same period last year.
Overall, Ford car sales in September totalled 44,631 – 1,843 units more than its nearest rival. For the year to date, this lead stretches to 16,017 with total sales for Ford of 264,455 units.
