Ford Philippines claims fastest-growing auto brand title

FORD Group Phils. president Randy Krieger (center) joins a team of motoring journalists in the launch of the new Ford Ranger in Chiang Rai, Thailand, last week. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The Blue Oval trademark has made Ford one of the world’s top brands, according to auto critic Giles Chapman. In 2004, Ford Motor was the 19th-most valuable brand, according to Businessweek magazine’s annual Global Brands Survey. Early this year, Ford Motor Co. matched Toyota Motor Corp. as the most favorably viewed auto brand by US consumers in a survey released by Consumer Reports magazine.

But such is expected, however, for this automobile company responsible for bringing to the world the iconic Model T in 1908—the car that would turn millions of Americans into motorists and integrate mass

production into carmaking.

Today, despite stiff competition from Japanese, Korean and European automakers, Ford is still a formidable global player, keeping alive the dreams of the early American industrialists. In fact, Ford is the aggressor in the Asian car market. In the Philippines, in particular, the drum roll for Uncle Sam’s Blue Oval has become even louder. Not to sound cheesy, but we do feel a Fiesta coming on with this automaker.

So the young, aggressive executives at Ford Philippines have just declared that 2011 has been their year, claiming that they are the “fastest-growing automotive brand in the Philippines this year,” their overall year-to-date sales “continued to lead the industry.”

They have the numbers to back this claim up. The January to October 2010 and 2011 year-to-date sales figures supplied by Ford Philippines show that the blockbuster Fiesta enjoyed a 154-percent increase, the mid-sized SUV Everest 110 percent, the Explorer at 725 percent, the Ranger pickup at 105 percent, and the compact SUV Escape at 29 percent.

Ford Philippines said that 2011 has been a banner year. Its overall sales from January to October rose 50 percent year over-year to 7,963.

For the month of October, Ford’s retail sales jumped 101 percent year over year to 834 units, led by the continued success of the all-new Fiesta and popular Ford Everest, as well as the launch of the all-new Ford Explorer.

8 more in 5 years

“To sustain our momentum, we will introduce eight more all-new One Ford vehicles in the Philippines over the next five years (the Ranger included)—significantly expanding our showroom lineup and introducing our brand to many new customer segments. And to support our growth, we are doubling our dealership network over the next five years,” said Ford Philippines in a statement sent to Inquirer Motoring.

“Our One Ford plan is working. Customer’s perception about the Ford brand continues to strengthen, thanks to our ongoing introduction of new products that are leading in quality, fuel efficiency, safety, smart design and value.”

The statement added that “this product-led transformation of our business was marked by the launch of the all-new Ford Fiesta.”

“We expect this will continue to gain momentum, and accelerate, with the recent launch of the all-new Ford Explorer this October and the all-new Ford Ranger later this year. Behind these great products is the hardworking and dedicated Ford team and dealer network who make things happen. They bring their best every day so we can deliver to our customers.”

Ford Model       Oct. 2010  Oct. 2011  % increase

Fiesta                  96          244         154%

Everest                 150         315         110%

Explorer                4           33          725%

Ranger                  44          90          105%

Escape               66         85         29%