Ford sold 6 percent more passenger cars in Germany last year than a year earlier, growing twice as fast as the market, the head of its German business told the magazine WirtschaftsWoche. "We want to profitably grow our market share with private customers as well in fleets," Bernhard Mattes told the business weekly in an interview to be published on Monday.
Ford, which is incurring losses in Europe, said last week it would increase production of its top-selling European car, the Fiesta hatchback, as well as other vehicles made in Germany, to meet growing demand in the region's key markets. Mattes said Ford had a market share of 6.9 percent in Germany last year, and that the Ford Focus had been the most popular model, followed by the Kuga.
The new Mondeo would be this year's most important model and would be on sale from February, he added. Sales of Ford models in the European Union and the countries of the European Free Trade Area rebounded in December to grow 4.2 percent after plunging 5.5 percent in November, according to industry association ACEA.