OREANDA-NEWS. January 20, 2016. Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) wrapped up an exceptional 2015, with December sales of 6,345 vehicles giving Ford a total volume of 78,471 for the year – the highest-ever for the brand in South Africa.

While the overall market dropped 4.1% compared to 2014, Ford bucked the trend and achieved 10.4% growth for the year, driven by the company’s formidable new model roll-out. This contributed to an overall market share of 14.2% for 2015.

*According to the figures released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), aggregate new vehicle sales declined by 4.1% in December as well as overall for 2015 following a challenging year for the automotive industry.

The passenger car segment was the hardest hit, reflecting a decline of 5.9% year-on-year, while the light commercial segment was up marginally by 0.4%.

“Despite the generally negative trends that played out last year, 2015 was our busiest year ever in terms of new model launches. We introduced a total of 10 all-new and refreshed products to the local market,” says Gerhard Herselman, Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa General Manager, Sales.

“Our push to deliver our most comprehensive and up-to-date line-up clearly paid dividends, and is reflected in our growth throughout the year. The fact that Ford claimed second-best selling brand through the dealer channel for 2015 proves that our products are being exceptionally well received by the buying public.

“We are delighted with the Ranger emerging as the best-selling vehicle once again in December, with 2,914 sales for the month contributing to year-on-year growth of 18.1%.”

Ford’s other star performer was the EcoSport, which was the undisputed king of the compact SUV segment throughout 2015. It notched up 940 sales in December.

*Includes Associated Motor Holdings (AMH) and Amalgamated Automobile Distributors (AAD).