Ford registered 34% jump in sales last March

MANILA, Philippines—Ford Group Philippines posted a 34-percent jump in total vehicle sales in March to 1,339 units, driven largely by the solid performance of its commercial vehicle segment.

This brought Ford Philippines’ first-quarter sales to a record high of 3,692 units—up by 37.5 percent from the 2,685 units sold in the same period last year.

Ford Philippines managing director Kay Hart said on the sidelines of the Manila International Auto Show 2014 Thursday that the company had a record-breaking quarter “driven by the fantastic performances of our top selling vehicles like the Ranger, Everest, Fiesta and Explorer.”

“We’re expecting another strong year this year. We just want to continue the great growth,” Hart said.

The launch of the Ford Ecosport earlier this year is also expected to further drive sales in 2014. The company expressed “a lot of confidence” that the latest offering would be a hit among Filipinos. In the first quarter, the company conducted the Ford EcoSport roadshow, which included test drives of the all-new EcoSport compact SUV.

This has helped drive customer demand leading up to the start of deliveries next month.

“Initial customer response to the all-new EcoSport has been terrific. Its maneuverability, compact size but spacious interior and abundant storage capacity, as well as smart safety features and technologies, make it the perfect urban SUV,” Hart earlier said.

Hart also announced Thursday that Ford Philippines would be bringing in the 2015 model of the Ford Escape by the fourth quarter of the year, with the units to be imported from North America.

To help boost sales, Ford Philippines will open four new dealerships in key provincial areas within the year, bringing the total to 37 locations by end-2014, Hart said. Last year, Ford opened five new dealerships.—Amy R. Remo