Ford Thailand's 2012 sales jump 88 per cent to best-ever full year performance

Strong sales across the Ford lineup helped drive the company's full-year retail sales in 2012 up an extraordinary 88 per cent from a year ago to 54,865 units - representing Ford Thailand's all-time best annual performance and making Ford one of the fastest growing
automotive brands in the country.

The record year was driven by all-time best full-year retail sales for the Ford Fiesta, Ford Ranger and Ford Focus, plus a strong full-year performance for the Ford Escape and early success of the recently launched all-new Ford Territory.

Ford closed out 2012 by celebrating its best-ever monthly performance in Thailand, with December retail sales soaring 234 per cent to 7,210 units, led by all-time best monthly totals for the Fiesta, Ranger and Focus.

"We continued to make significant progress on our One Ford plan in 2012 and finished the year in record fashion," said Yukontorn 'Vickie' Wisadkosin, Vice-President, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford Thailand. "With each all-new global Ford vehicle that we introduce, we are connecting with new Thai customers in so many exciting and meaningful ways, which is helping to further drive the strength and appeal of our brand."

Globally, the Ford Focus is on track to become the best-selling nameplate in 2012, while the Ford Fiesta is on pace to be the best-selling global B-Car, giving Ford the best-selling B and C-Cars in the world, based on the latest Polk global industry data through September*.

Exceptional sales momentum of the class-leading Ford Fiesta in Thailand in December helped to deliver its best-ever monthly sales tally of 3,369 units. The popular Fiesta remained Ford Thailand's best-selling nameplate in 2012, with retail sales rising by 62 per cent year-over-year to a record full-year total of 28,645 units. 

Ford’' record year was also supported by continuing strong demand for the class-defining all-new Ford Ranger pickup, with full-year sales that rose more than 148 per cent year-over-year to 19,745 units. The all-new Ranger also finished the year in record style, with December retail sales jumping more than 117 per cent to an all-time best monthly total of 2,922 units.

Ford expanded the all-new Ranger lineup in November with the introduction of the Duratec 2.5L VCT petrol variant at the Thailand Motor Expo, providing consumers with even more choice for this game-changing pickup.

The all-new Ford Focus also delivered a record full-year performance with retail sales increasing more than 160 per cent year-over-year to 5,335 units. The all-new Focus finished the year strong, recording one of its best monthly totals in December with sales that rose 232 percent year-over-year from the previous-generation Focus to 782 units.

The completely redesigned and re-engineered all-new Focus significantly raises the bar in the compact segment by delivering a class-leading combination of smart technologies, innovative design and safety, and fuel efficiency.

The all-new Focus is built at the company's new $450 million, state-of-the-art Ford Thailand Manufacturing facility in Rayong, which officially launched operations in mid-2012.

Additionally, retail sales of Ford Escape family SUV rose nearly 20 per cent from the prior year to 623 units.  

"Exceptional customer response to our newly launched One Ford vehicles like the all-new Ranger and all-new Focus is helping to further drive our successful product-led transformation in Thailand," explained Yukontorn.

"With more launches of our best-in-class Ford vehicles on the way, and the aggressive expansion of our nationwide dealer network continuing, we are committed to going further in 2013 and making the Ford brand even more accessible to our customers across Thailand," she added.

Ford continued to enhance its customer service experience in 2012, including the opening of 15 new authorized Ford dealerships in key locations across Thailand to help increase customer convenience. In November, Ford also announced plans to continue an aggressive expansion of its nationwide dealer network, growing it to 140 locations by the end of 2013.
 
* Focus registrations through the first nine months of the year were almost 738,000 vehicles while Fiesta new vehicle registrations topped 560,000 units during the same period, according to Polk.

Posted in: Annual Sale,Ford,Ford Thailand,International,Sale Report,Yukontorn 'Vickie' Wisadkosin