Ford Philippines delivers record-breaking March, 1st Qtr

MANILA, Philippines - Ford Philippines announced last week that its momentum to start the year continued in March with the company delivering its best-ever sales for the month, and capping off its all-time best first quarter performance.

Driven by strong sales across Ford’s growing product lineup in the Philippines, March retail sales rose 61 percent year-over-year to 1,000 vehicles. Overall retail sales during Ford’s record first quarter nearly doubled from the same period a year ago, rising 91 percent to 2,685 vehicles.

“With an expanding product range, including an upgraded all-new Explorer lineup and the addition of the all-new Ranger Wildtrak, the Ford brand is appealing to even more customers in the Philippines,” said Randy Krieger, president, Ford Philippines. “This extraordinary demand for our segment-leading One Ford vehicles is helping to drive record sales.”

Strong demand for the all-new Focus helped drive its strongest month since being launched last year with retail sales of 101 units in March. Overall sales of the all-new Focus in the first quarter increased 55 percent from the previous-generation Focus in the same period last year to 283 units.

The technology-packed all-new Ford Focus has significantly raised the bar among compact cars with a number of segment-first smart technologies, including Active Park Assist, Active City Stop and Blind Spot Information System, as well as a class-leading safety package.

The class-defining all-new Ford Ranger pickup continued to exceed expectations in March with retail sales of 295 units, helping push total Ranger sales during the record first-quarter up to 724 units.

“We’re continuing to implement an aggressive delivery plan to fulfill each and every customer booking for the all-new Ranger,” explained Krieger.

Underscoring the extraordinary demand for the all-new Ranger, Ford has unveiled seven additional variants at the 2013 Manila International Auto Show currently underway– including the range-topping Ranger Wildtrak—as well as four variants specifically designed for fleet customers.

The Ford Everest SUV also delivered another strong month with March retail sales that totaled 281 units, and continues to be one of Ford’s most popular vehicles with overall first-quarter sales of 711 units.

Ford is also using the Manila Auto Show to showcase an upgraded lineup of the popular Ford Explorer SUV, including the 2.0L Explorer FWD Limited with EcoBoost and 3.5L Explorer AWD Limited Plus, further raising the standard on customer benefits in a mid-sized SUV.

The segment-leading Ford Fiesta delivered retail sales of 170 units in March.

Ford previewed the new Fiesta at the Manila Auto Show, which will be available in the Philippines later this year. The new Fiesta will feature a redesigned exterior boasting a sporty new grille and all-new features and advanced technologies, including SYNC.

“The Fiesta has been the bestselling hatchback in the Philippines for the last two years, and we expect that the launch of the new Fiesta will help further drive its popularity and connect with even more new-to-Ford customers,” said Krieger.

Ford delivered another 20 units of its iconic Mustang sports car in March, bringing total deliveries since its launch in the Philippines to 202 units.

As sales across its product line continue to grow, Ford is on track to open six more full sales and service outlets across the Philippines by the middle of the year, bringing the total nationwide dealership count to 35. The new outlets will be established in Bohol, General Santos, Laoag, Zamboanga, Manila Bay and Baguio.