Two new Ford sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and the Mustang will be launched in European markets, as the American auto manufacturer is trying to offset declining sales in the region.
Ford Motor Co. revealed that it would launch the EcoSport small SUV in Europe within the coming 18 months. The small SUV is already available in several countries of the world, including America and India. It is said that Ford’s rival manufacturer General Motors Co. is also preparing to launch the Chevrolet Trax and Vauxhall Mokka.
European buyers will also be able to buy a redesign of the U.S.-market Ford Edge – a bigger, more posh SUV.
In Europe, the Ford EcoSport and Ford Edge will join the company’s SUV lineup alongside the Kuga, which is second best-selling compact SUV in Europe after the VW Tiguan.
Announcing the company’s plans to launch new SUVs in Europe, Global Marketing & Sales Chief Jim Farley said that the fast-expanding European SUV market was a unique opportunity for Ford to avail. He claimed that no rival SUV manufacturer could match Ford’s expertise, credibility and global portfolio. He estimated that the European SUV market would expand by nearly 34 per cent over the coming five years.
The auto giant aims to sell more than one million SUVs in European countries in the next six years, with SUVs accounting for 10 per cent of all Ford vehicles sold in the region by the year of 2016.
Europe will also get Ford’s next-generation Mustang. The high-performance coupe and roadster is currently imported by private retailers into European countries from the United States.
The list of the upcoming Ford vehicles in Europe also includes the next-generation Mondeo, a mid-sized car which is a variant of the Fusion, a revamped Fiesta subcompact and top-of-the-range Fiesta ST.
The next-generation Mondeo will be made available in Europe in three body styles, viz. five-door hatchback, a station wagon and sedan. It will come equipped with Ford’s 1.0-liter gasoline engine, and will compete with the likes of the Opel Insignia and Volkswagen Passat. It will also come in all-wheel-drive variants equipped with diesel engines. The Mondeo will go on sale sometime next summer.
In addition, the American manufacturer will completely redesign its commercial vehicle range: the Transit, Transit Custom, Transit Connect and Transit Courier as well as a family of new Tourneo people carriers. These redesigned vehicles will go on sale within the next two years.
Ford Motors has an aim to have fifteen global vehicles on sale in Europe within the next five years, and also has an aim to have as many as 3.5 million vehicles on European roads by the year of 2015 equipped with the company’s SYNC in-car connectivity system.