One Ford: taking PH on an exhilarating journey

JUST in its first three months, the Mustang already sold 130 units.

Talk about busy. While other car companies launch one or two vehicle models in a year, Ford Group Philippines introduced four all-new car models that drove impressive sales in the country for the global car maker.

Ford was on a roll, launching one car model after another. This year alone, Ford launched the latest iterations to its most beloved and most recognizable lines-the technologically packed Focus; the 2-liter Explorer; the class-defining Ranger, and the iconic Mustang.

But while launching four huge brands in a year may have been the car company’s biggest challenge as well, the people behind the storied car company welcomed and embraced the development, viewing it as an opportunity to further solidify its strong footing in the country’s motoring industry.

“By offering customers the widest range of Ford vehicles ever in the Philippines, our brand is connecting with, and appealing to, a much wider variety of lives and lifestyles,” said Randy Krieger, president of Ford Group Philippines.

It is this successful consecutive launch of exciting car models that helped Ford achieve “stable growth” in the past year.

“In the first half of the year, we registered a decline in sales due to the continued effects of the Thai floods in 2011. But as we launched our four all-new vehicles and stocks continued to improve, so did our sales,” said Anika Salceda-Wycoco, Ford Group Philippines’ AVP for Communications.

KRIEGER: Our brand is connecting with, and appealing to, a much wider variety of lives and lifestyles.

Ford’s overall retail sales rose 46 percent to 1,225 units, as the car company continued to expand its nationwide dealer network. In November, Ford Pampanga and Ford Alabang (one the largest full sales and service facilities in the ASEAN region) opened.

By the second quarter of 2013, Ford expects to have a total of 35 authorized dealership locations across the country.

Here are some more impressive sales figures: The all-new Ford Ranger already sold 1,100 units since its July launch with November being its best month at 344; and the all-new Ford Explorer posted its second highest monthly sales in November (since being launched last year) with 107 units.

In November, sales of Ford Fiesta increased 9 percent from the previous year to 248 units for a total of 2,798 total. In its first three months of availability, a total of 130 units of the iconic Ford Mustang were delivered.

“With the consecutive launches of our best-in-class Ford vehicles and the aggressive expansion of our nationwide dealer network, we are committed to going further and making the Ford brand even more accessible to our customers across the Philippines,” said Krieger.

In 2013, expect the Ranger line to further expand with the introduction of the Ranger WildTrak variants.

The best-selling Fiesta is also scheduled to have a boost with the launch of an all-new iteration.

Looking forward to a brighter 2013, Krieger could only hope for further improvement in the Philippines’ economic fundamentals, one that would eventually lead to a better standard of living for Filipinos.

Wycoco said: “We shall remain focused on our One Ford plan. The popularity and success of our vehicles are terrific examples of how our One Ford plan is working beautifully. We look forward to a more exciting 2013.”