Ford price rise

Ford has announced it is increasing its prices on all orders received after the 30th November 2009. The price rise which is on average about 2.7 per cent is due to the weakness of the £.

Since 2007 the £ has devalued by around 30 per cent and although Ford has taken actions to reduce their costs this price increase was inevitable according to Nigel Sharp, Ford of Great Britain managing director.

He said, “To combat the continuning weakness of the £ against the Euro, Ford has reduced costs across its entire UK business, including personnel reductions in its central operation and across its dealer network. However price increases are still required to maintain a viable business and to recover relative costs increases caused by the weakness of the £ over an extended period”. 

This will add about £250-£500 on the most popular Ford models like Ka, Fiesta,Focus,C-MAX,Kuga and Mondeo.

Choose by your star sign?

Carcraft, the used car supermarket, has found that when choosing your car, most motorists focus on things like price, size, the tax bracket and fuel consumption.

However according to some fun research they conducted they also found that your Astrology Star Sign could affect your choice. Aries drivers (the ram) tend to go for something flashy and sporty (red Mazda MX5 or Saab Convertible) whereas Sagittarians prefer something to accommodate their sense of adventure (4X4 or a muscular MPV). Aquarians apparently like something that is fun, small and quirky like the Ford Ka or Mini.

Whatever your Star Sign, try the new contract hire Super Shopper as you can find any make or model of vehicle.

Ford Kuga

The weakness of Sterling against the Euro has forced Ford to announce that from the the beginning of July 2009, they will be putting up the prices of their UK range by about 4 per cent. This will apply to all orders placed after the 30th June, so if you are thinking about contract hire leasing a Ford then now is the time to act, before these changes take effect.

Nigel Sharp, managing director of Ford of Britain comments “ In common with most of the UK auto industry, Ford is reacting to the sustained weakness of the £ against the Euro. Raising prices in difficult times, and when a scrappage scheme has been introduced, may seem counter-intuitive but with so many of our costs priced in Euros, there is no choice if we are to maintain a viable business”.

The exchange rate for the £ to the Euro has been stable for about ten years, with the £ worth around 1.43 Euros. However with recent exchange rates as low as 1.16 Euros to the pound, this was an unavoidable increase according to Ford. The increase on the cost price for the most popular models, will be about £600-£650 (Ka, Fiesta, Focus, C-Max, Kuga and Mondeo) with Ford S-Max up by approximately £700 and £800 for a Ford Galaxy.

Ford Kuga 2WD emits less than 160gkm CO2

Ford’s share of the retail (non-fleet) car market increased by 1.2 % to 15.5 % market share in March for the “09″ plate. This is against a backdrop of total industry car registrations falling in March by circa 30%. The Ford Fiesta was the UK’s best seller for the fifth successive month.

Nigel Sharp, Ford of Britain managing director said ” These improvements in Ford’s relative position are based on product strengths. Ford has one of the freshest and most exciting car ranges in its history, following the introductions in 2008 of the new Ford Focus, Kuga, Fiesta and Ka . Ford’s commercial vehicle market share, at 28.8 %, is at its highest since November 2000″.

The Ford Kuga 2WD is one example of where CO2 emissions are less than 160g/km CO2 making the model attractive to contract hiring, company car drivers as well.

Ford goes into the New Year with impressive Green credentials. They have one of the UK’s most comprehensive range of green cars with low CO2 emissions.

The Ford Ka has a CO2 of under 120 g/km as do the new Ford Fiesta diesels which achieve 76.3 combined mpg and a CO2 figure of less than 100 g/km.

Ford has 185 models under 160 g/km emissions output thereby offering substantial savings to drivers and companies. They were also named Greenest Manufacturer in 2008 by Green-Car-Guide.com

Ford reported today that its share of the retail (non fleet) market grew by 1.9 percentage points to 17.4% , year on year, in December 2008. The Ford Focus was the overall best selling car for the 10th successive year.

Ford has always been one of the nation’s best sellers and has introduced a new Ford Focus, Kuga, Fiesta and Ka in 2008. The Ford Focus also appeared with James Bond in the “Quantum of Solace”.

Nigel Sharp, MD of Ford of Britain said ” Ford’s range of stylish, high tech models, offering value and fuel efficiency, continues to attract customers to our showrooms in these difficult times”.