Kuwait holds title for biggest market share in region

KUWAIT CITY, April 5: Ford Middle East held a Press Conference Tuesday to announce to the media results of their first quarter (Q1) 2011 operations in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, as well as shed more light on models that sent Ford's popularity flying through the roof.

Leading the Ford Middle East team at the event were Hussein Murad, Ford Middle East's Director of Sales and Mohammad Saleh, Marketing and Sales Manager, Arabian Motors Group, who were in the forefront doing the presentation and answering questions from the large group of media personnel present.

Hussein Murad in his speech indicated that Ford products had showed strength during the first quarter of 2011, posting an outstanding overall 52 per cent increase in GCC sales compared to the same period last year. The upswing in sales volume, he continued, continues thanks to the growing popularity of Ford's new generation of strong products that were introduced to the region in the last quarter of 2010, with the new 2011 line up like Ford Edge, Mustang, Taurus and Fusion leading the charge with outstanding performance, starting the year off on the best possible footing.

According to Murad, those results represent a flying start for Ford in 2011, with a dynamic line up of award-winning, high quality products that customers have been giving great response to. "Ford is truly on the fast track. Our continued growth is testament to increased preference for our products in the region as we offer our customers not only world-class, award winning models that they desire, but also industry-leading technologies and some of the richest features and packages -- all at an unbeatable value.

Dynamic looks, class leading technologies, choice of power trains, affordable prices, and great fuel economy across Ford's available models are what customers want, and that's exactly what we offer them across our dealerships today thanks to our new lineup ", Murad added.

Kuwait saw a major sales boost of 50 per cent during the first quarter of this year, driven by increasing retail as well as fleet businesses, further cementing Ford's lead in the Kuwaiti market. Kuwait with a market share of 13% currently holds the title for Ford's biggest market in the region and also ranks third among all cars and SUVs after Toyota and GM.

The highest performing market for the GCC was Saudi Arabia, with sales of Ford and Lincoln products increasing by a staggering 75 per cent over Q1 2010. In the UAE, sales saw an impressive 32 per cent increase over Q1 last year, with growth registered across passenger cars and utility vehicles alike.
Ford powers ahead in Q1 on the back of its worldwide success in 2010, after posting a strong 1.935 million full-year sales in the United States, up by 19 percent over 2009, marking the largest increase of any full-line manufacturer. Market share increased for the second year in a row -- the company's first back-to-back increase since 1993, a success largely accredited to a wave of new fuel-efficient, high quality models.

Ford posted the industry's highest growth rate in market share with a full percentage point, for the second consecutive year.

Consumer demand for Ford's fuel-efficient vehicles continues to grow as March 2011 sales increased 19 percent versus a year ago. Year-to-date, Ford sales totaled 496,720, up 16 percent.

"Clearly, this further reinforces the success of our One Ford strategy as we continue to focus on offering great products that our customers want, and innovate technologies that set the benchmark across the industry," chimed in Saleh.

As a sign of its continuing momentum and leadership in quality, the Kelley Blue Book Brand Watch study showed Ford had reclaimed the No. 1 spot as the most considered automotive brand overall for new car shoppers, snatching the title in a big way, with a significant lead over second-place Toyota/Chevrolet and third-place Honda.

In addition to being the most-considered auto brand overall (regardless of segment) for the last quarter of 2010, Ford has been the highest-considered brand within the truck segment for nine consecutive quarters and is currently the most-considered brand in the non-luxury SUV/CUV segment, With the F150 topping the sales list worldwide in the truck category.

© Arab Times 2011