COLOGNE, Germany -- Ford of Europe's sales in its main 51 markets rose by almost two percent to a record 1,003,700 vehicles in the first half of this year.

"Surpassing the one million mark after only six months of the year is confirmation of how well our products are being received by an increasing number of customers," said Ingvar Sviggum, vice president, Marketing, Sales & Service, Ford of Europe. "We are also very pleased that despite a general softening of the industry and the challenging economic environment we increased our market share to 8.8 percent in the Euro 19 markets.

"With the new Kuga compact crossover currently arriving in European dealerships and the all-new Fiesta going into production next month, we are preparing the groundwork to further improve our market position," he added.

The top-selling models in June across the Euro 19 markets were the Focus (33,200 vehicles), Fiesta (30,600 vehicles) and Mondeo (14,300 vehicles). The Kuga continued its strong start with sales of 2,800 vehicles.

The Fiesta was the best-selling imported car in Italy with 6,700 vehicles sold, and Ford was Italy's best-selling imported vehicle brand, achieving a 7.9 percent market share. In France, the Fiesta, S-MAX and C-MAX were the best-selling vehicles in their segments.

Britain was the company's top market in June, with 37,200 vehicles sold for a market-leading share of 15.3 percent.

Sales in Germany increased by 16.9 percent to 23,900 vehicles, while France improved by 9.5 percent to 15,700 vehicles.

In the first six months of this year, Ford of Europe sold 823,400 vehicles in the Euro 19 markets. Twelve of those markets posted increases. Britain was the company's top region, selling 235,500 vehicles for a share of 16.2 percent. Among other successes, Germany sold 118,500 vehicles, an increase of 5.8 percent, and France sold 80,900 vehicles, up 13.7 percent. Ford leads the market in Spain this year, with a share of 10.0 percent, up 0.5 percent from 2007.

First-half sales in Russia increased 19.8 percent to 97,300 vehicles. Turkey improved by 3.8 percent, to 38,700 vehicles, while sales in Ford's 30 European Direct Markets soared by 39.4 percent to 44,400 vehicles.

In the first half of the year, Transit sales were up 7,500 to a record 99,400 vehicles sold in the Euro 19 markets.

Courtesy: Ford Motor Company, Germany

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Posted by Naresh Koshti on 17 July, 2008 3:11:00 PM IST #