Ford to Fight for the Heart of Middle East, Africa
From the Blade Runner future in Dubai to the shores of Tripoli, Ford aims to launch an aggressive campaign in the Middle East and Africa markets through the creation of a fifth business unit that will consolidate the Blue Oval’s operations in the two regions.
The automaker will launch 17 new or refreshed models from both Ford and Lincoln in the next two years to increase its market and mind share in the newest emerging market; Ford has 5 percent of said shares.
The prize? A huge piece of a pie composed of 7 million sales by 2020, the majority of which to come from Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Iran. At present, Ford sells around 200,000 vehicles annually in the Middle East and Africa, with 160,000 units sold to customers in Saudi Arabia and South Africa alone. The automaker expects total sales to increase 40 percent by 2020, on top of the 60 percent growth experienced in the previous four years.
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Off topic with regards to Africa and Middle East sales: If Ford were to sell that Ranger here in North America, they would sell at least 75K to 100K of them a year.
i was wondering who buys a Ford in a country where relaibility and repairability is key.... it is bad enough to have an unreliable car in NA or Europe where you have trained mechanics and shops everywhere if needed. but in the desert or any remote areas? i guess if you stick to cities, you can drive any such brand. but if you hang out in remote villages, where any repair likley is done only with a hammer, woudl you want to drive a VW, Ford et al? there is a reason why the Taliban, the UN, and everyoen else uses Toyotas whne outside of cities.
Likely as not because the barnds you mentioned have more market penetration? Ford can compete just fine with those makes. It's a question of commitment and basic planning. If there's a dealer near you, and parts of perceived as being easy and cheap to come by, any fears and hesitation can be overcome over the long haul. Ask Fiat how they did it in Brazil. Or the japanese how they did it in the US. If everybody acted and thought like you suggest, the maret would never change.
While trying to process "creation of a fifth business unit" and "consolidate the Blue Oval's operations in the two regions", My logic detector went haywire.