For the last several years, sales of crossover vehicles have grown by leaps and bounds — a growth that Ford Motor Company has been able to fully enjoy thanks to the Escape, Edge, and Explorer CUVs in North America. And according to Ford vice president of Global Marketing, Jim Farley, crossovers will continue gaining market and mind share all over the world for the automaker.
Farley said that Ford expects to see overall automotive sales to grow 23 percent between 2012 and 2017. During the same period, overall utility vehicle sales are forecast to rise 41 percent. The majority of this growth will come from China thanks to Ford’s CUVs, including the subcompact EcoSport, compact Kuga (Escape), midsize Edge, and full-size Explorer. Notably, Ford projects its own utility sales in The Land of the Red Dragon to eventually increase by more than 2,000 percent.
Ford also plans to do well in established markets like Europe, which has proven to be an unprofitable affair for most automakers involved, with a projected 65 percent growth in utility sales between 2012 and 2017. Given that the overall utility market is projected to grow 30 percent in the Old World, the forecast means that Ford expects to conquest customers of competing makes, effectively growing its market share in the region.
Most importantly, Ford has put its One Ford global vehicle strategy into action when it comes to crossovers, with the EcoSport and Escape/Kuga already being global vehicles, and the 2015 Edge and 2016 Explorer following shortly thereafter for global availability. And as we’ve already seen, when Ford goes global with a vehicle, that model ends up being a raging success.
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