12:28 pm, October 3, 2014
PARANOIA helps keep Ford at the top of the sales charts in the UK, according to the company’s MD in Britain, Mark Ovenden.
The Blue Oval consistently rides high in the sales charts with its best-selling double act of Focus and Fiesta leading the charge whenever the monthly sales figures are released by the SMMT.
And the company is convinced its One Ford global product policy is the way forward – and that the sheer range of vehicles on its stand at this year’s Paris Motor Show just wouldn’t have come about without that approach.
Ovenden is certain where the foundations of the company’s success lie in the UK. Speaking to Car Dealer at Paris this week, he said: ‘People, process and product, you’ve got to have all three.
‘There are always challenges. It’s a very, very competitive industry. The moment you think you’re doing it right is when you start going backwards so we’ve got to stay completely paranoid.
‘We keep pushing it, keep bringing out great product, keep working with our dealer partners, and if we keep doing that we’ll be OK.
‘I know some of our competitive friends have talked about leadership as a strategy. We never look at things that way. We take a view that we’ll do everything right and the market share will be what the market share will be. Most times we get it right, sometimes not so right, but you’ve just got to keep working at it.’
Looking out at the array of Ford vehicles on display in front of him, Ovenden continued: ‘What you see out here now is One Ford in action. With the economic challenges that there have been in Europe we never would have had this product range if we’d carried on operating regionally.
‘The fact that we operate as One Ford is great news for our dealers because now we are pulling the best from all of our capability across the world.’
