• Ford’s European sales increased by 7.7 percent from January to May, compared to the same period last year; industry growth was 6.6 percent
• Year-to-date market share up 0.1 percentage point to 7.9 percent
• May sales down by 1 percent, largely explained by higher than usual CD car volume in May last year
• Highest commercial vehicle share for Ford since 1998
• More than 50 percent of Ford sales between January and May were all-new or significantly freshened vehicles
• Product surge continues with new Transit Courier and Tourneo Courier arriving now at Ford dealerships across Europe – two of 10 new Ford vehicles being launched in 2014 alone

COLOGNE, Germany, June 17, 2014 – Ford Motor Company’s said sales in Europe rose 7.7 percent in the first five months of this year – outpacing the industrywide recovery – thanks to strong demand for Ford’s newest vehicles.

Ford sold 98,600 vehicles in its European 20** markets in May and 496,400 vehicles year to date, a year-over-year increase of 35,500 units or 7.7 percent. Ford’s market share through May equalled 7.9 percent, up 0.1 percentage points from a year ago.

Ford’s commercial vehicle sales rose 12.8 percent in May and 8.1 percent year-to-date, boosting the company’s CV market share to 10.5 percent in May and 10.2 percent year-to-date, the highest level in 16 years. The Transit remains the best-selling nameplate in the combined one- and two-tonne commercial vehicle segment in Europe.*

Ford’s focus on growing sales to private retail buyers and fleet customers, which are more positive for brand image and residual values, continues to show progress. Ford sales to European retail and fleet customers increased by one percentage point to 72 percent of total sales in the first five months*, two percentage points above the industry average. Likewise, daily rental sales and dealer registrations declined year-over-year to 28 percent.

“Our newest vehicles – such as Fiesta, Kuga and Transit -- have helped Ford make a strong start to 2014 and we have much more to come this year including the new Focus and new Mondeo,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe.

In May, Ford sales fell 900 units or 0.9 percent year-over-year, largely explained by the flow of a high volume of Ford large cars – the Mondeo, S-MAX and Galaxy – into Ford dealerships in May 2013 following a number of months of restricted supply from the Ford Genk plant in Belgium.

With an increase of around 40 percent in the first five months, the Kuga experienced the strongest sales improvement among the Ford vehicle range. The No.1 top-selling Ford model remained the Fiesta, followed by Focus, C-MAX and Kuga.

* Data available for January to April 2014

** Effective January 2014, Ford of Europe reports its sales for the 20 European main markets where it is represented through National Sales Companies. Previously, Ford referenced 19 countries. Romania has been added as the 20th market. Ford of Europe also has introduced a market share for the total of the 50 European markets within which it operates. A detailed list of markets is below.

Download Full Sales Release (PDF)