- Ford – worst performing marque in 2024
- Ford boss Lisa Brankin says it’s about profitability not volume
- But then Vauxhall is little better
- EV registrations surge to 24%
DESPITE registering its first proper volumes of the Explorer EV in September, Ford once again took a significant hit to its monthly sales. Ford is down more than 26,000 cars so far in 2024 – that’s approximately the same as the total number of Hondas registered YTD.
Ford is by far the worst performer in 2024 with the largest unit fall of any brand. With a drop of 26,048 cars, the unit fall is more than twice that of the next worst brand Vauxhall (down 12,551 cars), itself more than twice the drop of Audi (down 5,793 cars).
In percentage terms, of the manufacturers which have sold more than 1,000 cars, only Porsche and Polestar have greater percentage drops than Ford’s -23.3% year-to-date.
Ford has seen its market share fall to 5.7% from 7.7% a year ago.
However, Ford claims it is more focused on profitability than volume.
In a recent interview with Broker News, Lisa Brankin, Ford Chair and Managing Director, said:
“In the past we've probably obsessed over market leadership and that's not our driver at the minute. It's around how we manage a profitable business overall. And with that we're not necessarily focusing on what our share numbers look like, it's how we can deliver a healthy business mix and profitable model mix.”
With only the final quarter of the year left, it looks even less likely it will keep its promise that Ford would “correct themselves over the rest of the year”, made in June.
A spokesperson for Ford added: “Ford’s YTD EV market share of passenger vehicles in the UK is 3.4% (up 2.0% points year-on-year). Ford is in 14th spot. September was the first month of Explorer sales and we registered over 1,300 in the month. We expect to see Capris landing with customers in late November/early December and Puma Gen-E joins the lineup in early 2025 (but will be available to order by end of this year).”
Ford franchised retailers that Broker News spoke to said they were concerned about the drop in new car volumes and the impact it would have on future servicing and maintenance business.
The manufacturer’s current solution to the dropping volumes and the impact this will have on retailer profitability is to continue with its plan to reduce the number of retailers, which should keep the volume per dealer at a sustainable level. Ford currently has 307 franchise points and is aiming to get to fewer than 170 by 2025.
Source: SMMT
So what’s the overall car market doing in September?
September saw an increase in new car registrations of 1% thanks to significant discounting of EVs and PHEVs.
In the plate-change month EVs saw an increase of more than 24% and PHEVs 32% from a year ago. These rises countered a near 7% fall in petrol registrations and a 7% fall in diesel registrations. EVs took a 20.5% market share in September, with PHEVs at nearly 9%.
In the first nine months of 2024, total new car registrations are up 4.3%. With September’s boost, the year-to-date share for EVs is now at 17.8%, up from 16.4% a year ago. Cars that only require petrol are up nearly 2%, PHEVs up 26% and diesels down 12%.
Commenting on September’s new car registration figures, Gerry Keaney, BVRLA chief executive, said: “September’s figures show that EV registrations have gained some much-needed momentum, on the back of heavy discounting from manufacturers and sustained investment from business fleets.
“This growth is welcome but will remain unstable and unsustainable unless the Government comes up with a long-term strategy for supporting the EV market toward its ambitious ZEV Mandate and phase out targets.”
New market entrants
In its launch month, new Chinese brand Omoda (above) recorded more than 1,000 new cars. However, one retailer that Broker News spoke to said that dealers had been required to register significant numbers of cars for used car stock in the month.
BYD, which launched just over a year ago with a single model, now has a three-car range and registered more than 1,000 cars, up from just over 200 a year ago.
GWM Ora has not had as strong a start as its fellow Chinese brands but has now passed the 1,000 unit point for the year-to-date.
Ford is not alone - Vauxhall is also suffering the pain
While Ford car registrations look bad, it is not alone. Vauxhall is also suffering. Down more than 12,000 units so far this year, even significant discounting in September couldn’t help the brand’s numbers. For the month Vauxhall was down 30%, or just more than 4,000 cars.
The Vauxhall drop is significantly impacting the overall figure for parent manufacturer Stellantis. The group which includes Peugeot, Fiat, Citroen, Jeep, Alfa Romeo and more is down in excess of 8,000 cars this year. However, Peugeot is up more than 4,500 cars and Jeep is up nearly 4,000.
Top 5 brands by unit increase YTD
Bottom 5 brands by unit decrease YTD
1 BMW +18,601
2 Mercedes +13,351
3 Renault +12,735
4 Volvo +12,010
5 Nissan +11,300
5 Porsche -4,910
4 Toyota -5,731
3 Audi -5,793
2 Vauxhall -12,551
1 Ford -26,048
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Tristan Young is an award winning journalist with more than 25 years’ experience reporting on the automotive industry focussing predominantly on fleet and retail. As a self-confessed petrol-head, Tristan has a weakness for car classifieds. When he’s not writing about the automotive industry, he can usually be found outdoors with a small pack of border collies.
