Ford Middle East holds up in tough market conditions

Dubai: Ford Middle East, which is responsible for the GCC countries, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, is headquartered in Dubai. Gulf News spoke to regional sales manager Hussain Murad about his perceptions of the regional car market.

Gulf News: How is Ford doing on the Middle East market - how are sales going, what is the product strategy, can you give some market figures?

HUSSAIN MURAD: We have done very well compared to the industry this year. In the entire region, new car sales were down 20 per cent. In the UAE alone it was 44 per cent. We performed very well on our biggest market, Saudi Arabia, where we gained five per cent in sales while the market went down seven per cent. But we see the market growing again. Ford currently holds seven per cent market share in the region, and we are targeting ten per cent. After Saudi Arabia, our second and third biggest markets are Kuwait and the UAE.

Can you give a short history of Ford's presence in the region?

Ford came back in 1991 to the region, at the time we had one dealer. 2002 we switched to Al Tayer Motors which did a great job since. In 2008, around 10,000 cars of all our three brands have been sold. Most popular is the Ford Explorer, followed by the Ford Edge and the Ford Focus. Also our five Lincoln models are selling very well, and even Mercury, despite the fact that we currently are offering only two models. Such cars are very popular in Saudi Arabia.

What are your expectations for the UAE market?

I think at the end of next year the market will have recovered from the downturn and will be in a very good shape, at the level of 2008. Our sales are increasing quarter by quarter, and as this continues, at the end of 2010 we are there again where we used to be. At the moment, the ratio of people buying cars with loans or cash stands at 70 to 30 per cent, which used to be 80 to 20 per cent. But we see that people are getting loans more frequently.

What about your fleet sales?

The fleet business with rental car agencies, companies and police is doing well. We are doing good business with oil and gas companies in Saudi Arabia, for example. The Saudi police, as well as police in Kuwait and Jordan are loyal customers of the Ford Crown Victoria police interceptor model. Fleet sales contribute 40 per cent to our total sales.