UK Ford and VW sales beat European average

Ford and Volkswagen, two of the most popular car brands in the UK and Europe, have seen sales fall on the continent, but grow in the UK, during the first half of 2012. Ford, the biggest-selling marque in the UK and second-biggest in Europe, posted a 10% year-on-year drop in sales across 19 Western European markets from January to June, while UK registrations rose by 4.08%.

Ford and Volkswagen, two of the most popular
car brands in the UK and Europe, have seen sales fall on the
continent, but grow in the UK,
during the first half of 2012.

Ford, the biggest-selling marque in the UK and
second-biggest in Europe, posted a 10% year-on-year drop in sales
across 19 Western European markets from January to June, while UK
registrations rose by 4.08%.

Of the 617,000 European new Ford sales, just
over 150,000, around 24%, were in the UK. According to the
Associated Press, Ford attributed the loss of registrations to not
matching heavy discounts from competitors

Meanwhile, sales of VW, the third-biggest
seller in the UK and the biggest in Europe, slumped 5.7% in Western
Europe in H1 2012, excluding Germany where the brand is based, but
rose 1.56% in the UK.

Despite the disappointing sales on the
continent, VW saw 4.45m vehicles registered in the first half of
2012, the best opening six months of a year for the brand since
1973.

richard.brown@vrlfinancialnews.com