UPDATE: Ford December Sales Down 19.7% In Europe
14 Januar 2009 - 9:06PM
Dow Jones News
Ford Motor Co. (F) said Wednesday its sales in western Europe
fell 19.7% in December, highlighting how overseas business is
providing less of a prop for loss-making U.S. auto makers.
The decline was less than the 32% drop Ford suffered in North
America last month, but took its full-year decline to 7.4% in its
core 19 European markets, just beating the industry average of
7.6%.
Ford, which has so far avoided the need to tap federal funds in
the U.S. to stay afloat, has relied on its profitable European unit
to help offset losses at home.
The company is, alongside its rivals, seeking aid in Europe. It
has also admitted it could still need to seek U.S. government
assistance if weak global market conditions become materially
worse.
"If they aren't able to diversify their revenue in Europe, they
will have to rely on the emerging markets such as Russia and Chine,
which are also slowing," said Rebecca Lindland, analyst at IHS
Global.
"They will also have to be very careful what they do in those
emerging markets. One bad move, like a product introduction
problem, could prove costly."
Ford of Europe reported a pretax profit of $1.4 billion for the
first nine months of 2008 while Ford North America reported a
pretax loss of $4.38 billion.
The company sold 1.4 million cars and light trucks in the core
19 European markets last year, less than the 2.04 million at rival
General Motors Corp. (GM), whose own business was down 6.5% in
2008.
Ford increased its market share in 15 of the markets during the
year, helped by its new Fiesta subcompact. Sales rose in Germany
and France but dropped in the U.K. and Italy.
The company has already cut staff and production on both sides
of the Atlantic and may seek to sell of its Sweden-based Volvo Cars
brand.
A sale of Volvo would completely dismantle Ford's Premium Auto
Group, following the disposal of Aston Martin and the twin sales of
the Jaguar and Land Rover brands to India's Tata Motors Ltd.
(TTM).
Ford shares were down 22 cents, or 8.9%, at $2.27 in recent
trading.
-By Jeff Bennett, Dow Jones Newswires; 248-204-5542;
jeff.bennett@dowjones.com
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