Ford Of Europe’s Sales RIse 7.4 Percent In April

Ford of Europe’s dynamic product range continued to draw customers in April, when the company sold 143,700 cars and commercial vehicles across its main 21 markets, an increase of 7.4 percent from the same month last year. Market share also improved by 0.3 percent to 8.24 percent.

The Focus and Fiesta remained Ford of Europe’s best-selling models in April, supported by the growing popularity of S-MAX, Car of the Year 2007, and Transit, International Van of the Year 2007.

There were strong monthly performances in markets across Europe. Britain increased sales by 13.3 percent to almost 32,000 units, and sales rose in Italy by 23.2 percent to 19,000 units. Russia continued its fast pace, where sales nearly doubled from last year to 15,570 units in April 2007.

The company’s solid showing in April contributed to a 6.3 percent sales improvement, to 622,828 units in the first four months of 2007. Market share was 0.2 percent higher, at 8.97 percent. “Our sales performance in April shows that we are building on the momentum of the first quarter,“ said Stephen Odell, vice president, Marketing, Sales & Service, Ford of Europe. ”Our products are in demand and we are focused on continuing growth with further new models, such as the Focus Coupé-Cabriolet, refreshed C-MAX and, of course, the all-new Mondeo. The Mondeo goes on sale in the summer, and the impressive press reaction so far confirms our view that we have another winner"

Ford’s sales data includes both passenger cars and commercial vehicles from its 21 major European Sales Companies, including Russia and Turkey. Market share excludes Russia.