Ford sales in PH down 21% in first 9 months

MANILA, Philippines—Ford Group Philippines saw its January-September sales drop 21 percent as its new vehicle models became available only starting September due to the impact of the flooding in Thailand last year.

The company sold 5,627 units in the nine-month period this year against 7,129 units in the same period in 2011, Ford assistant vice president Anika Salceda-Wycoco said.

“September is the first full month of availability of all four of our newly launched Ford vehicles (Ranger, Focus, Explorer with EcoBoost and the iconic Mustang sports car). In the beginning of the year, we reported a decline in our sales due to the impact of the Thai floods late last year,” she said.

Ford Philippines said earlier that its September sales were flat at 964 units as against the 965 units sold in the same month last year.

Month on month, Ford Philippines’ retail sales jumped 68 percent from 574 units in August—representing one of the company’s all-time highest sales months in the Philippines.

The company said September sales got an extra boost with the first full month of availability for all four newly launched Ford vehicles in the Philippines.

“Our showrooms across the country are now packed with the widest lineup of vehicles that Ford has ever offered in the Philippines, which is really helping broaden the appeal of our brand to so many new-to-Ford customers,” Ford Philippines president Randy Krieger said.

In September, Ford began deliveries of the new Mustang, which is available in 3.7L Mustang V6 Premium and 5.0L Mustang V8 GT Premium variants. Ford said 40 units of the sports car were being delivered to customers starting this September.

The company said the all-new Ford Explorer continued to redefine the SUV segment and in September delivered retail sales of 118 units, representing its best monthly performance since its October 2011 launch.

Ford said it would culminate its “All-New Focus—Start it. Share it. Win it.” campaign this month, with voting for the finalists kicking off next week and one participant winning an all-new Ford Focus Titanium+.