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Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) said on Thursday that it secured its third month as the second best-selling brand in South Africa during April 2016.
A statement issued by the company said Ford sold a total of 5,473 vehicles in April, 2, 971 of which were passenger car sales, adding that the EcoSport continued its unchallenged reign at the top of the compact SUV segment with 943 units sold for the month, 41 more than recorded the previous month.
Another star performer was the attention-grabbing Ford Mustang, which achieved its highest volume to date with 114 units delivered to customers just as there is still unprecedented demand for this iconic model, resulting in a lengthy waiting list.
In the light commercial sector, Ford said it ended the month on exactly 2 500 units, comprising 2 413 Rangers, the Ford Transit on 66 units and the compact Transit Connect on 21.
Overall, its year-to-date share is up by 1.4 percentage points to 15.3% compared to the first four months of 2015, indicating continued resilience in the face of a tough economic climate with heavily constrained new vehicle sales.
According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), the aggregate new vehicle sales of 40 390 units for April 2016 reflected a decline of 9.2% compared to the 44 469 vehicles sold in April last year.
The new passenger car market was the worst affected, falling 13.2% to 26 077 units, while the light commercial vehicle sector recovered to register a marginal decline of 18 units, just 0.1% down on the corresponding month last year with a final tally of 12 192 vehicles sold.
“The new vehicle market is under significant pressure due to a subdued economic climate, which is further impacted by the recent spate of price, inflation and interest rate hikes,” Neale Hill, Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa Director of Marketing, Sales and Service, said.
“However, the fact that Ford managed to increase its year-to-date sales compared to the same period last year and remain the second best-selling brand, shows that our product portfolio is more competitive than ever, particularly in terms of overall value for money which is a key purchasing consideration.”
NAAMSA’s vehicle export volume of 32 856 vehicles for April showed an increase of 39.2% compared to April 2015. The Ranger comfortably topped the LCV exports with 5 033 vehicles shipped to markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
This was the third month in a row that Ranger exports exceeded 5, 000 vehicles, and the fourth consecutive month in 2016 as the highest-volume LCV export model, reinforcing the sustained high demand globally for Ford’s successful pick-up range.
