Friday, November 9th, 2018

Posted by: Warren Jones Posted in: News

Ford maintained its sales leadership through the month of September – and for the year to date – heading total vehicle, car and commercial vehicle (CV) sales in the UK.

In its 53^rd year of UK CV leadership, Ford set a best-ever monthly new sales record in September with 21,430 registrations, resulting in a market share of 38.0 per cent. Other highlights of the sales figures issued today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) include:

• Ford leads total UK car sales for the year to date (Fiesta 1^st and Focus 4^th)
• Transit Custom and Transit top the UK CV sales
• Ford has five models in the UK Top 20 in September – Fiesta (1^st), Transit Custom (3^rd), Focus (10^th), Kuga (11^th) and Transit (15^th)
• Nine Ford models lead their respective segments; Ford Fiesta, C-MAX, Galaxy, Transit Courier, Transit Connect, Transit Custom, Tourneo Custom, Transit and the Ford Ranger pick-up

“The Transit Custom is the third best-selling vehicle in the UK, outselling almost all passenger cars year to date,” said Andy Barratt, chairman and managing director, Ford of Britain. “With industry-leading technologies and advanced powertrains, our CV range is the strongest it has ever been and we see that reflected in the record sales.

“Our long-standing UK new car market leadership is testament to the exciting products and industry-leading technologies we continue to bring to the market, like the all-new Focus now arriving in showrooms. The Fiesta – the UK’s best-selling car – also has been very well received, and now with the complete new Fiesta model range available to customers, its sales are up significantly compared to the industry rate. I’m particularly delighted with the positive reaction to the new Fiesta ST – our most responsive, engaging and fun to drive Fiesta ST ever!”

The official figures released by the SMMT today show that industry car sales in September were down 20.5 per cent at 338,834 units, compared with September 2017. Year to date registrations declined by 7.5 per cent at 1,910,820, compared with the same period in 2017. Ford is the UK’s year to date sales leader, with 206,103 registrations – 48,418 units ahead of its nearest rival.

The Ford Fiesta is the UK’s best-seller in September, recording 12,227 registrations – an increase of 12.0 per cent compared with September 2017. With total registrations of 79,416 for the year to date, the Ford Fiesta is the UK best seller by a significant margin – 27,254 sales – and 1.9 percentage points of market share ahead of its nearest competitor. In terms of retail sales, the Ford Fiesta holds a greater advantage over its closest competitor; year to date its retail share is 6.0 per cent, 3.5 per cent ahead of its nearest rival.

Ford is the clear leader in the higher margin retail car sales segment, which most accurately reflect the preferences of private buyers. In September, Ford extended its retail car sales share to 11.6 per cent, 4.8 percentage points ahead of its nearest rival. Year to date, Ford’s retail car sales share was 12.6 per cent, an increase of 1.1 per cent over the same period in 2017.

UK light commercial vehicle (LCV) industry sales in September were down 6.1 per cent at 56,389, compared with September 2017. Ford LCV sales were up 4.0 per cent at 20,595 registrations, compared to the same month in 2017.

Year to date total industry UK LCV sales were down 2.9 per cent at 282,679 compared with the same period last year. Total sales of Ford CVs for the year to date were up 7.1 per cent at 98,419 compared with 2017. Ford’s share of the CV market continued to grow; achieving the highest ever monthly market share of 37.6 per cent, and year to date a market share of 35.9 per cent, up from 32.5 per cent in 2017 and 24 per cent ahead of its nearest rival.

The Ford Transit Custom is the clear sales leader with 43,328 registrations for the year to date, up 6.0 per cent compared to a year ago and 26,105 sales, and 8.6 per cent of share, ahead of its nearest rival. The Ford Transit two-tonne is the UK’s second best-selling CV, with sales up 17.9 per cent in 2018 year to date, compared with the same period last year.

Demand for pick-up vehicles grew 4.6 per cent for the year to date. The Ford Ranger – the UK’s top-selling pickup – recorded sales of 12,695 and 30.2 per cent market share, up 30.4 per cent compared with a year ago.