OREANDA-NEWS. July 23, 2015. Ford was the fastest growing brand within the heavy trucks industry in Brazil in the first half of 2015, with a gain of 5.9 percentage points, and increased its market share to 19 per cent. This growth was achieved mainly in the segments of up to 6 tons and 10 tons gross weight, which the brand leaded, and 6x4 heavy commercial vehicles.

This performance helped Ford offset partially the sharp market downturn. While the industry has accumulated a fall of 41,7% in sales in the period, the brand’s volume reduction was 15,2%.

"Having a diverse and complete line-up of commercial vehicles, focused on productivity and economy, proved to be a competitive advantage in this challenging period, in which more than ever customers seek the best cost-effective in fleets operation," says Flavio Costa, marketing supervisor, Ford Trucks.

Ford led the 6-10 tons of gross weight heavy trucks segment with its three models – Cargo 816, Cargo 1119 and F-4000. Together, they accounted for 31.5% of sales in the semester, showing a gain of 6 percentage points in market share.

The Cargo 816, one of the most sold of the category, totaled 1,650 units. The Cargo 1119 also showed great acceptance and sold 1,025 units - an increase of 15.1% over the same period of 2014. The F-4000, of the new F-Series launched late last year, totaled 952 units.

Ford led the so called semi-light truck segment with the F-350, which accounted for 44.6% of registrations in semester. The brand also showed growth in 6x4 vehicles, with the Cargo 2623 and Cargo 2629 models, which gained 6 percentage points of market share and obtained 19.6 per cent of segment sales.