FORD of EUROPE sales rise 5.4 per cent in FEBRUARY 2008

* New Mondeo sales up by 66 per cent

* Ford Ranger sales increase by 200 per cent

COLOGNE.– Ford of Europe’s growth momentum continued in February with year-over-year sales in its main 21 markets increasing by 5.4 per cent, to 125,500 units. The company’s market share was 8.1 per cent.

This strong performance, driven by its acclaimed new models, boosted the company’s year-to-date sales by 3.3 per cent, to 267,900 vehicles.

The Focus was Ford’s most popular model in February with sales totalling 32,800. This was followed by the Fiesta with sales of 24,900, while the Ford Fusion added a further 9,950 units.

The new Mondeo continued to accelerate, with sales leaping by 66 per cent to 13,370 versus February 2007. The Ford Ranger pick-up also performed strongly during the month, with sales surging by a remarkable 200 per cent, to 1,760. The popular Ford Transit medium commercial vehicle also continued to win sales, rising 13 per cent to 15,470.

Ford sales in February improved in virtually all of its main markets. Britain was the best-selling market, with sales of 14,650, slightly ahead of Germany, which increased by 870 to 14,630 units.

Spain and France also turned in strong performances: Spain improving by 935 units to 14,390, while France climbed by 770 to a total of 11,620.

The largest increase came in Russia, however, where Ford sales surged over 11 per cent to 13,900. Sales in Turkey also continued to move ahead, rising by 9.3 per cent to 5,400.

In percentage terms, the largest increases were posted in Portugal (up 44 per cent to 1,935), the Czech Republic (up 34.9 per cent to 1,065) and Poland (up 33.6 per cent to 2,470).

“Our strong performance in February, coupled with an outstanding reaction to our new models at the Geneva Motor Show keeps us on course to maintain our growth momentum in the coming months,” said Stephen Odell, vice president, Marketing, Sales & Service, Ford of Europe.

“The media and public reaction to the new cars we revealed at Geneva, particularly the all-new Fiesta and Kuga crossover, was outstanding. This demonstrates clearly that we are keeping our promise to deliver products that appeal to the heart as well as the head. This year alone we will introduce more than 20 individual new models and derivatives across our entire portfolio.”