Ford commercial vehicles

Ford’s centenary year has finished in style with the brand closing 2011 as the UK market leader, selling 265,894 cars, as final 2011 sales figures are released by the SMMT. Their top-selling vehicle range secured 15 per cent of the UK’s total 2011 market and there were also some other notable highlights in a tough trading year.

• They are the number one UK car brand for 35 successive years, with the Ford Fiesta the best seller for the third successive year, selling 96,112 vehicles.
• Ford commercial vehicles record sales increases compared to 2010 and the Transit remains the UK’s favourite van.
• The new Ford Focus (77,804 to 81,832 units) and C-MAX (8,357  to 18,925 units) ranges also recorded significant sales and share increases, when compared to 2010.
• The Ford Transit totalled 71,607 units, up from 62,308 in 2010. Ford Fiesta Van, Ford Transit Connect and Ford Ranger also saw sales increases.

Ford Fiesta

Mark Ovenden, Ford Britain managing director, said,”Ford’s 2011 sales performance benefitted from a combination of our best-ever range of vehicles, advanced technology engines, including the new low-CO2 EcoBoost engines, and the unrivalled strength of our dealer network”.

Mr Ovenden went on to say,”More  people choose Ford over any other vehicle brand in the UK and as we face economic uncertainty and intense competition in 2012 we will look to satisfy the needs of our private and business customers through the introduction of a number of new models and technologies, starting with the launch of the new Ford Ranger and the introduction of the 1.0-litre, three-cylinder EcoBoost engine in Ford Focus”.

The full range of Ford cars and vans are on the site now on Ford contract hire.

Ford Kuga

One of our leasing partners, FordRetailOnline, has just loaded a batch of special offers with some great discounts. The Ford car lease special offers are based on three year contracts, 10,000 miles per annum, non-maintained contract hire with an initial rental of only three in advance. Availability on these models is on a first come first served basis.

Here are their offers – which have been loaded today

1. Ford Fiesta 1.25 Edge 3-door 60 PS with metallic paint FOC now from £137.17+VAT per month
2. Ford Focus 1.6i 105PS Zetec 5-door hatch with metallic paint FOC from £219.90+VAT per month
3. Ford Kuga TDCI FWD Zetec with metallic paint from £267.07+VAT per month
4. Ford Mondeo 1.6i Ecoboost Zetec with Start/Stop 5-door with metallic paint FOC from £228.55 +VAT per month
5. Ford S-Max Zetec 2.0 TDCi 140PS MPV from £281.96+VAT per month
6. Ford Galaxy Zetec 2.0 TDCi 140 PS from £327.29 +VAT per month

Vans – 4 year contracts (3+47 payment profile)

1. Ford Transit 280 SWB Low Roof 2.2 TDci 85PS from £227.70+VAT per month 
2. Ford Transit Connect 200 SWB Low Roof 1.8 TDCi 75PS from £199.29+VAT per month

Ford Fiesta Van

The judges at What Van? have awarded Ford Commercial Vehicles an amazing seven awards at their annual 2010 What Van? award ceremony. The list is as follows;

- Fiesta Van is the Small Van of the Year

- Transit wins Secuirty, Panel Van

- Transit Connect wins Security, Light Van

- Transit is Minibus of the Year

- Transit One-Stop-Shop is highly commended

- Transit Small Panel Van is highly commended

- Ford Ranger is highly commended in the 4×4 category

Neil McIntee, What Van? editor said about the Fiesta Van, “Back with a vengeance, Ford’s all-new Fiesta Van is the hugely deserving winner of What Van?’s Small Van of the Year award. No matter which model you opt for, Fiesta is fun to drive”. Ford contract hire prices on all Ford vans are available off the site now.

Ford van

Ford has been named as the most reliable van manufacturer in a survey of more than one million vehicles. The Transit was named as the most reliable van for the third year running with the Transit Connect in third place.

The survey was conducted by Fleet News magazine and polled the UK’s leading vehicle leasing companies who together, run over 1,000,000 vehicles. The leasing companies (many of whom are partners on Comparecontracthire.com) all run multi-marque fleets and they rated vehicles according to breakdowns per 100 of each model.

ACFO Award winners

ACFO, the body representing the interests of businesses which operate cars or vans, has awarded the following manufacturers with awards, at the 2009 ACFO Fleet Car and Van of the Year Awards.

- The Volkswagen Golf range won ACFO Fleet Car of the Year for the Volkswagen Golf.

- Ford won the Fleet Light Van of the Year for the Transit Connect.

- Volkswagen also won the Van Award for their Caddy range.

- Mercedes-Benz won the Fleet Panel Van of the year category for their Sprinter.

Julie Jenner,ACFO chairman said, “The Awards continue to represent the true face of fleet operations,rather than showroom appeal”.  Car leasing and van leasing prices on the above manufacturers are readily available off the site now.

The Association of Fleet Operators (ACFO) have once again given their top commercial vehicle award to Transit and Transit Connect. The Transit won Fleet Panel Van of the Year and the the Transit Connect, Fleet Light Van of the Year. ACFO represents fleet managers across the industry and their members have a wealth of knowledge about which cars and vans provide the best reliability and low running costs.

Kevin Griffin, Ford’s director of fleet operations said ” Claiming the ACFO title for the 14th consecutive year is testament to Ford’s understanding of the van business and our laser focus on reliability, cost and service support.

All the Ford commercial and car product range can be quoted on contract hire at www.comparecontracthire.com, the UK’s first contract hire price comparison site. Quotes can be easily compared on line from a panel of up to 12 finance companies.