Ford European March Sales Up 12% Y/Y - Analyst Blog

Ford Motor Co. F witnessed a 12% year-over-year increase in March sales in Europe. The company's sales improvement surpassed the industry's growth rate of 10% in the month.

Ford sold 147,100 vehicles in the Euro 20 region, reflecting an increase of 12.1% year over year. Sales amounted to 159,900 across all the 50 European markets it covers, representing a 5.3% increase.

March 2014 marked the tenth consecutive month of European sales growth for Ford. The company's share in the Euro 20 market increased 0.2% year over year to 8.9% in the month.

Ford's sales in the first quarter of 2014 went up 11.2% to 297,900 vehicles in the Euro 20 region, while the industry growth rate was 8%. In the quarter, Ford sold 332,600 vehicles in all the 50 European markets it covers representing a 4.9% year-over-year increase. Fiesta and Focus were the highest-selling Ford vehicles in Europe in the quarter.

First-quarter 2014 was the fourth consecutive quarter of European sales growth for Ford. The company's share in the Euro 20 market increased 0.3% year over year to 8% in the quarter.

The year-over-year improvement was driven by the company's strategic investments, new vehicle launches and business expansion with retail and fleet customers. Ford plans to launch 10 new vehicles in 2014.

In the first quarter of 2014, Ford's sales to retail and fleet customers in Europe soared to 73% of total sales.  The company's commercial vehicle sales increased 10% to 50,000 vehicles. Ford's market share inched up 0.2% to 10.4%, marking the highest since 1998. However, the company's sales to daily rentals and dealer registrations declined to 27% from 28% in the first quarter of 2013.

In the U.K., Ford's largest European market, total vehicle sales increased 13% year over year in March and 11% in the first quarter of 2014. In Germany, the company recorded a 19% hike in sales in March and 24% in the quarter.

Ford also announced that it has increased the daily production of Fiesta at its Cologne plant by 200 units to 1,850 units, in order to meet the rising demand.

Ford currently holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked automobile stocks worth considering are Tesla Motors, Inc. TSLA, PACCAR Inc. PCAR and Fox Factory Holding Corp FOXF. All the stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).