MANILA, Philippines – The local unit of American automaker Ford Motor Co., reported lower sales in August this year from a year ago amid monsoons which caused heavy floods.
Ford Philippines said in a statement that its August retail sales reached 574 units, reflecting the impact of the monsoons and flooding experienced across the country last month.
Anika Salceda, assistant vice president for corporate communications of Ford Group Philippines, said in a text message that August “sales are down 22 percent compared to same month last year (741 units).”
The company said the start of deliveries of the all-new Ford Focus in the last week of the month contributed to the company’s overall performance, with retail sales of 42 units.
“The all-new Focus is the latest proof of our commitment to offer our customers best-in-class vehicles,” Ford Group Philippines president Randy Krieger said in the statement.
“Packed with several first-in-market and first-in-segment technologies, the all-new Focus significantly raises the bar in the compact segment,” he said further.
Ford Philippines kicked-off its “All-New Focus…Start it. Share it. Win it.” campaign in August, which is designed to engage Filipino consumers with real-life demos of the Ford Focus’ smart technologies.
Sales of the Ford Everest family sports utility vehicle meanwhile, reached 264 units last month.
Data on the company’s sales for the January to August period this year and in 2011 were not immediately available.
Despite lower year-on-year sales in August, Ford Philippines said it has a positive outlook for the remainder of the year as it is set to begin the deliveries of the Ford Mustang sports car later this month.
It cited that the iconic Mustang which is available in 3.7L Mustang V6 Premium and 5L Mustang V8 GT Premium variants, has already attracted more than 70 bookings.
Earlier, Ford Philippines announced that it will halt its assembly operations in Sta. Rosa, Laguna in December with the end of the manufacture of the Ford Escape vehicles.
The decision to close its Sta.Rosa plant is in line with the restructuring of its regional manufacturing operations given the weak local demand and small supply base for vehicles.
The planned shut down of the Sta. Rosa plant by the end of this year will be the second time the automaker will be pulling out its investment to the Philippines as it halted operations in 1985 due to a weak peso.
While Ford Philippines is set to shutdown its assembly plant, it remains committed to the country as it plans to add 12 new locations to its authorized dealer network to support its growth plan.
The new dealership locations are Baguio, Bohol, Butuan, Cainta, General Santos, Isabela, Laoag, Makati, Manila Bay, Naga, Tarlac and Zamboanga.