Ford’s pair of mid-size minivans, the five-seater C-MAX and its seven-seater sibling, the Grand C-MAX, have proved to be a hit in the European market, doubling the Blue Oval’s sales in their segment.
Since its launch in late 2010, Ford has sold more than 135,000 C-MAX and Grand C-MAX MPVs in Europe, more than double the number its predecessor achieved in 2010. This was partly to be expected though, as the previous C-MAX, despite a facelift in 2007, was essentially a seven-year old model.
What’s interesting is that, according to Ford, the second generation of its European minivan has also doubled its share in its segment, from 6.7 to 12.7 percent, thanks in part to the addition of the seven-seat version, which accounts for one-third of total sales.
Ford of Europe must also be quite satisfied with the fact that 60 percent of the cars delivered are “conquest” sales, i.e. customers moving to Ford from another manufacturer.
“The C-MAX proves that even in an extremely competitive market and a difficult economy, customer will respond to great new products”, said Roelant de Waard, Ford of Europe vice president of Marketing, Sales and Service.
“The only way to double sales and segment share in one year is win over new customers from the competition, and that’s what C-MAX is doing,” he added.
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