(April 19, 2011) COLOGNE, Germany — Ford unit sales in March were down 13.5 percent in Europe from March 2010, and down 10 per cent in the first quarter compared with the same period last year.

Ford said that this was due to a weaker market in Western Europe than a year ago, plus the favorable impact of scrappage schemes in the early part of 2010 which helped to boost the sale of Ford's small car sales in the first quarter of last year.

Strong early sales of the Ford Focus and C-MAX did help Ford reach 9.3 percent market share in March in Europe’s traditional 19 markets.

Despite the weaker March numbers compared to 2010, Ford was the No. 2 best-selling brand in Europe and the top-selling brand in the UK, Ireland, Turkey, Hungary and Denmark. Overall, it was Ford’s highest market share for a month since March 2010, when the company achieved 10.4 percent share.

“The all-new Ford Focus is off to an outstanding sales start, and this even before we’ve rolled out the car across all our European markets and with the four-door and wagon derivatives still to come in late April and May,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe.

“Add to this the strong momentum of our recently launched Ford C-MAX, plus the freshened S-MAX and Galaxy, and you understand why we are looking ahead with great confidence. Success in the car industry is all about product, and we know we have one of the best and emotionally-appealing product ranges with probably the highest value for money in the industry."

The all-new Ford Focus five-door model sold more than 10,000 units in March as the new car continues to go on sale throughout Europe. March sales of the all-new C-MAX were 14,700, adding to more than 45,000 sales since launch at the end of last year.

The company’s sales in Germany jumped by 23 per cent to 27,300, the highest volume percentage gain for Ford in any of its traditional 19 European markets. Ford’s market share in Germany was 7.6 per cent – the best monthly share in the country since March 2009. Taking into consideration that March 2009 sales were boosted by Germany's national scrappage scheme, March 2011 was the best share for Ford in Germany for more than half a decade.

Ford retained market leadership in the UK, Denmark, Ireland, Turkey in March, and was market leader in the UK, Ireland, Hungary and Turkey for the first three months of the year. Ford also was No.1 imported brand in Italy in March and in the first quarter, and was No.1 imported brand in the Czech Republic in March.

Sales in Russia, Turkey and Eastern Europe continued to grow by 44, 36 and 16 per cent, respectively year-on-year.