COLOGNE, Germany – Ford of Europe's sales in its traditional 19 markets fell 4.4 per cent to 93,700 in July as overall market demand weakened.  Sales of the new Focus and C-MAX continued to be strong, however. '

Across all 51 of its European markets, Ford sales fell 0.9 per cent to 118,300 in July. For the first seven months of the year, Ford sales in those markets totalled 953,800, up 1.3 per cent, boosted by gains in Germany, Russia and Turkey.

"Our newest vehicles are breaking through with customers, especially the new C-MAX and Focus, and we are making substantial progress in Germany, Russia and Turkey,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe. “At the same time, demand was fairly soft in July industry-wide, particularly in Southern Europe as concerns about the economy are impacting consumer confidence.” 

Ford's market share in its traditional 19 European markets was 8.3 per cent for the first seven months of the year, 0.3 percentage points lower than in the same period 2010. Ford’s market share in July fell 0.2 percentage points to 8.1 per cent. Ford was Europe’s second best-selling vehicle brand in July and through the first seven months of 2011.

Market and model sales highlights

Total sales of the new Focus, which was launched in mid-March, now total 88,500 units. Sales of the new C-MAX totalled 74,300 units in the first seven months of the year - the best July year-to-date result for the C-MAX since 2007.

In Germany, C-MAX sales were up 245 per cent July versus the same month last year. Total sales of the C-MAX since launch late last year total 87,000 units.

Year-to-date 2011 registrations of the Galaxy and S-MAX jumped 14.4 per cent and 10.5 per cent respectively, marking the best volume for both vehicles since 2008.

Year-to-date sales of the Transit were up 12,700 units or 17.3 per cent in the traditional 19 European markets, at 88,300 units. This was the largest July year-to-date volume for Transit since 2008, and drove its July year-to-date segment share to 13.2 per cent, its highest since 2003.

Ford continued to make strong progress in Germany in July with sales of 20,900 units, up 9.1 per cent from a year ago. For the year, Ford has sold 152,000 new vehicles in Germany, up 17.8 per cent from the same period in 2010. Ford market share in Germany of 7.3 per cent is up from 6.9 per cent a year ago. 

In Russia, Ford sales in July totalled 9,200 units, up 48 per cent from 2010. It marks Ford’s best July sales since 2008.

In the first seven months of 2011, Ford’s operations in Turkey posted a 42.1 per cent sales gain over the same period in 2010, up by 23,100 units to 77,900 units. This was the best-ever sales volume for Ford in the country, and was the third month in a row that Turkey achieved record year-to-date sales growth.

In the UK, Ford's largest market by volume, the company strengthened its market leading position by increasing market share in July, up 0.3 percentage points to 15.5 per cent. Year-to-date market share is up 0.1 of a percentage point to 15.4 per cent.

In July, Ford retained market leadership in the UK, Denmark, Ireland and Turkey, and continued to be year-to-date market leader in the UK, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Turkey. Ford is the top imported brand in Italy and the Czech Republic year-to-date. Ford increased its July market share in the UK, Denmark, Finland, Ireland and Greece, plus in Russia and Romania.