Ford Philippines ends 2012 with record sales

Ford Philippines said Wednesday it ended 2012 on a high note with its “best-ever monthly performance.”

The car maker said its sales for the December grew 33 percent to 1,298 units from 973 a year earlier. The record month, Ford said, capped its “all-time best quarterly performance,” with fourth-quarter sales up 42 percent from a year earlier to 3,771 units.

The success of four newly launched vehicles (all-new Ford Ranger, all-new Ford Explorer with EcoBoost, all-new Ford Focus and Ford Mustang sports car) as well as continued strength in demand for the Ford Fiesta, Ford Everest and Ford Escape drove sales, the company said.

“Customers are responding very positively to our expanded Ford lineup and are really appreciating the advanced technologies that we offer in our vehicles, our focus on fuel efficiency, quality and safety, and our ongoing commitment to provide the very best customer experience,” Ford Philippines president Randy Krieger said in a statement. “This is all helping translate to record sales.”

He said that as the company introduced more vehicles, it expected to see the “momentum” continuing and winning new customers.

Ford said its record December included the second-best  month ever for the class-defining all-new Ford Ranger with sales of 319 units. The strong month helped fourth-quarter sales of the Ranger rise five-fold from a year before to its best-ever quarterly performance of 945 units, the company said.

Sales of the Fiesta in December helped deliver its second-best month ever with retail sales rising 30 percent year on year to 377 units. Ford said the Fiesta ended the year with fourth-quarter sales increasing 22 percent to 932 units, and the Fiesta finishing the year as the best-selling five-door hatchback in the small-car segment.

The Ford Explorer recorded its best-ever quarterly performance in the Philippines from October to December, with sales rising 25 percent from the year before to 226 units, Ford said. The technology-packed SUV continued to redefine its segment and appeal to a wide range of local customers.

Fourth-quarter retail sales of the Ford Escape family SUV rose 9 percent from the previous year to 452 units—led by its best month of the year in December with sales of 180 units, Ford said.

The Ford Everest SUV also posted its strongest monthly performance of the year in December with sales rising 35 percent from the previous year to 316 units. The fourth quarter was its strongest for the year, registering sales of 903 units, Ford said.

The iconic Ford Mustang, meanwhile, capped its fourth month of availability with sales of 22 units—bringing the total number of units delivered to customers since its launch to 152.

In the first half of 2013, Ford said it would continue the aggressive expansion of its nationwide dealer network, which would bring its total to 35 locations across the country.—Riza T. Olchondra