(November 8, 2013) BRENTWOOD, Essex, UK — Ford achieved its best share of the medium van market in Europe for more than a decade during the first nine months of 2013, selling 106,800 Transit and Transit Custom models. The company sells a new medium van across the continent every four minutes.

Ford’s European medium van segment share through September 2013 grew to 14.3 per cent — an increase of 1.4 percentage points compared with the same period in 2012 and the highest level since 2002.

In September 2013 alone, Ford’s share of the medium van segment — including one-ton and two-ton commercials up to 3.5 tons gross vehicle mass— reached 16.8 per cent, up 1.1 percentage points over September 2012, and the company achieved its best September share since 2001.

The Ford Transit is in its 48th year as the UK commercial vehicle market leader and Ford’s share of the medium van segment, in which it competes, is more than double that of the nearest competitor at 31.7 per cent, up 1.0 percentage points over last year.

The new Ford Transit Custom — International Van of the Year 2013 — has sold more than 25,000 units across Europe this year – 8,200 of them in the UK, building further on the Transit’s success story.

“Transit Custom is a great looking van which is hard-working, economical to own and drives just like a car,” said Kevin Griffin, CV marketing and sales director, Ford of Europe. “It started life in award-winning style, and this success has now continued into the Ford showrooms.”

Launched late in 2012, the one-ton Transit Custom is the first of Ford’s line-up of four all-new, next-generation Transit commercial vehicles which are being rolled out over a 24-month period. The second model — the all-new Transit Connect, aimed at 0.6-1.0 ton payload market — has just entered production, and was recently named International Van of the Year 2014. The Transit Connect received 2,000 sold orders by the end of September, ahead of vehicles arriving in Ford dealerships.