UK SALES MAY - Ford continues to dominate, and with decades of leadership behind it, it ain't ending soon !

Ford was the UK market leader in total vehicle, car and commercial vehicle (CV) sales in May. Ford CV sales comfortably outpacing CV market sales growth with highest May sales volume since 1989.

According to the official sales figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT):

May 2016 highlights:

• Ford total vehicle sales 32,935 and a sales share of 14 per cent, 5.6 percentage points ahead of nearest rival
• Fiesta is UK best-seller, Transit Custom and Transit lead CV sales
• Ford has five models in the UK top 20 – Fiesta (1st), Focus (3rd), Transit Custom (6th), Kuga (13th) and Transit (20th)
• Ford Fiesta, Fiesta Van, Transit Connect, Transit Custom, Transit and Ranger lead their respective segments

Andy Barratt, Ford of Britain chairman and managing director, said:  "We continue to consolidate and extend our long-standing UK market leadership through continued investment in exciting products and industry-leading technologies, delivered through the strongest UK dealer network. Five vehicles in the UK top 20, and a very strong performance of our CV range, with Transit Custom and Transit leading CV sales, firmly underline the success of our exciting model range.

“SUV segments continue to show significant growth and our EcoSport and Kuga models have been enjoying healthy sales growth, and this summer we see the new Ford Edge, our flagship SUV, arriving in dealerships. Our highly successful Ford Transit and Transit Custom commercial vehicles also benefit this summer with the launch of the all-new Ford EcoBlue diesel engine, delivering significant cost of ownership and performance improvements for our customers.”

The official figures released by the SMMT today show that total car sales in May were up 2.5 per cent to 203,585 units, compared with May 2015. Ford car sales were 23,740, 7,440 registrations ahead of its nearest rival.

Ford extends its lead in retail car sales, which most accurately reflect the preferences of private buyers.  For May, Ford is 5.3 percentage points of retail car sales share ahead of its nearest rival.

The Ford Fiesta remains the UK’s best-seller with 8,236 registrations in May, 2,507 sales and 1.3 percentage points of share ahead of its nearest rival. The broad customer appeal of Ford’s car range is demonstrated by Fiesta, B-MAX, Focus, C-MAX, Kuga, Mustang and Galaxy all occupying top three places in their respective market segments in May, boosted by more than 4,000 UK orders for the Focus RS.

UK light commercial vehicle sales in May were up 1.9 per cent at 28,480 compared with May 2015.  Ford light and medium commercials sales were 9,218, up from 7,745 compared with May 2015, corresponding to a 19.0 per cent increase compared with May 2015.

The full availability of Ford’s extended CV family has helped deliver these significant increases in sales and share.  Fiesta Van, Transit Connect, Transit Custom, Transit and Ranger all lead in their respective market segments.