Ford Sales Down In January

February 11, 2012, 11:12pm

MANILA, Philippines — Ford Philippines was able to sell 367 units only in January, reflecting the carry-on impact from the Thai flood crisis that has affected the local delivery and supply of vehicles. The company statement did not provide comparative figure.

The company statement justified its lower sales to the fact that Ford’s three best-selling models in the Philippines – the All-New Ford Fiesta, Ford Ranger and Ford Everest – are all built at the company’s AutoAlliance Thailand facility, which was forced to halt production for several weeks in the fourth quarter as the Thai floods caused disruptions across the auto industry’s supplier network.

The class-leading All-New Ford Fiesta led the monthly performance with January retail sales of 143 units and continued to be the country’s best-selling 5-door hatchback during the month. The Ford Escape turned in a strong month with retail sales of 112 units, while the recently launched All New Ford Explorer continued to generate significant excitement and demand with overall customer bookings surpassing 400 units since its October launch.

Despite the impact on January sales, Ford remains confident about its overall 2012 performance and continued growth, which will be supported by the launch of three more all new One Ford vehicles and the opening of 12 new authorized Ford dealerships in key locations across the country.

“Supply issues caused by the Thai floods caught up with us in January, but our showrooms remained very busy during the month and customer bookings continued to be strong. This helped reinforce our confidence in another strong full year ahead, which will be boosted by the launch of more segment-leading global One Ford vehicles,” said Randy Krieger, president, Ford Group Philippines.

Ford will launch the class-defining All-New Ford Ranger at the upcoming Manila International Auto Show, along with the All New Explorer 2.0L GTDi – the first vehicle Ford will introduce to the market featuring its innovative EcoBoost engine technology.

Later in the year, Ford will launch the All-New Ford Focus, which will introduce several first-in-segment smart technologies that help deliver another class-leading offering.

Ford’s plans to open 12 new authorized Ford dealerships this year, increasing its nationwide network to 35 authorized dealers.

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