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Cars: New Ford Focus equipped with 1.5l EcoBoost engine manufactured at Craiova plant
The new Ford Focus to be launched at the Barcelona Mobile World Congress,and then to be presented at the Geneva International Motor Show, is equipped with the new 1.5l EcoBoost engine manufactured at the Craiova plant (southern Romania)
The first units of the 1.5l EcoBoost engine will be shipped from Craiova to the Focus assembly plant in Saarlouis, Germany, in the second half of the year, according to the representatives of Ford Romania.
'We are very proud that the 1.5-l EcoBoost engine made at Craiova will equip the next generation of the best-selling model worldwide: Ford Focus. The production of the 1.5l EcoBoost engine started in April 2013 and up until now we have already produced 90.000 units. The 1.5l EcoBoost engine has been first introduced last year in China in the all-new Ford Mondeo, followed by the Fusion sedan in North America and will also be available on the European Mondeo later in 2014. The first units of the 1.5l EcoBoost engine will be shipped from Craiova to the Focus assembly plant in Saarlousi, Germany, in the second half of the year,' the representatives of Ford Romania said in a press release issued on Monday.
Ford first launched the Focus in 1998 and since then more than 12 million have been sold worldwide, including 6.9 million in Europe. The current Focus was confirmed last month as the world's best-selling car, based on Ford's analysis of the Polk registration data for the first nine months of 2013.
Ford estimates Focus sales globally reached 1.1 million in 2013, including more than 300,000 in China, making it the best-selling passenger car in the fastest-growing new car market in the world.
Ford sees sales double on local market
Sales of Ford automobiles doubled on the Romanian market in Jan. 2014, and in Bucharest, the dealer Business Development Team (BDT), one of the main players on the local automotive retail market, sold more than the entire distribution network for top brands such as Honda, Citroen, Kia or Mitsubishi.
Ranking second, after Opel, both in the statistics of the Association of Automotive Manufacturers and Importers (APIA) as regards sales, and of the Driving Licenses and Vehicle Registration Directorate (DRPCIV), Ford posted 429 newly registered cars and sales of 409 units in Jan. 2014, according to the APIA data, with the growth pace being 100 percent compared to the same period of 2013. Ford's sales amounted to 515 units, including light commercial vehicles.
In Bucharest, BDT sold 58 Ford cars in Jan., while the entire Citroen distribution network sold 44 cars and utility vehicles (according to APIA), Honda - 22 units, Kia - 33 units and Mitsubishi 45.
'In January, BDT sold 58 Ford cars and 8 Mazda cars, the highest volume of sales in January in the last five years. Sales are further buoyed by the acquisitions made by companies, having a share of 90 percent. In the Ford network, BDT has a sales share of 11.26 percent, and the share in the general automotive market is 1.38 percent,' BDT Managing Director Stefan Simion told AGERPRES.
The most requested models this Jan. were Fiesta, Focus and Transit, the trump cards of the Ford models being the very good price compared to their available technologies, as well as the range of engines, the best sold being the 1.0 Ecoboost engine, also manufactured in Craiova.
On the other hand, the presence of Ford in Craiova (southern Romania) seems to have influenced the perception and sales of the brand on the local market, Ford being very close to the 2nd position by sales of cars, after Dacia. Skoda comes second (426 units in Jan.), but with a growth pace of only 16 percent, in line with the increase of the general market.
In Jan. 2014, the Romanian automotive market totaled 4,797 units, up 15.5 percent, due to sales in cars posting an advance of 15.6 percent. Another important aspect is the fact that over the last seven months (given the trend of the Car Scrappage Scheme launched later in 2013 than in the previous years), the sales of cars have surged compared to the similar periods of the years before, with this fact not having occurred over the past five years.