MUNICH -- Ford of Europe said it was Europe's second biggest selling brand after Volkswagen in 2008 despite its new-car sales falling by 7.4 percent in its major markets.
Ford's sales in its main 19 markets fell by 115,200 units to 1.44 million last year, the company said Wednesday.
But the carmaker increased its market share by 0.1 percentage points to 8.6 percent helping it to overtake General Motor's Opel brand as the second biggest selling marque in western Europe.
Opel's market share fell from 8.5 percent to 7.8 percent in Western Europe's in the first 11 months of the year.
Ford of Europe's head of marketing, sales and service Ingvar Sviggum, said Ford's market share success "is clear recognition of our strong product portfolio which puts us in a better position than many."
In all 51 of its European markets, Ford's sales dropped by 6.1 percent to 1.78 million during 2008.
The successful launch of the Fiesta small car helped the company increase market share, Ford said.
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