Ford's European Sales Cratered in 2024

The Blue Oval had a market share of only 3.3 percent, way behind Hyundai and Kia.

Ford Focus ST Edition (front three-quarters)

Adrian Padeanu

By: Adrian Padeanu

Jan 21, 2025 at 2:59am ET

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Gone are the days when Ford was a force to be reckoned with in Europe. The sales results for 2024 show how drastic decisions to cut models have seriously impacted demand. The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) has published sales data for the previous 12 months, and the numbers are terrible for the Blue Oval. Demand dropped by a whopping 17 percent compared to the previous year.

ACEA lists Ford as having 426,307 sales in the European Union, EFTA, and the UK. The EU is comprised of 27 countries, while the EFTA consists of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The UK is listed separately since it left the EU five years ago. Ford sold 87,174 fewer vehicles in 2024 than it did in 2023. What happened? Well, 2024 was the first full year without the Fiesta in the firm's lineup.

2024 sales results in EU+EFTA+UK

2024 car sales results in EU+EFTA+UK

Photo by: ACEA

Facing a harsh reality, Ford's market share in the EU+EFTA+UK region shrank from four percent in 2023 to only 3.3 percent last year. The Korean brands are well ahead, with Hyundai and Kia each grabbing a 4.1 percent piece of Europe's automotive pie in 2024. Renault's low-cost Dacia brand is also far more popular, with a 4.5 percent share. The Romanian marque’s parent company obtained a 5.4 percent share, while the VW Group's Skoda ended the year with 5.9 percent. Toyota earned a 7.2 percent share, while the main VW brand was the undisputed leader with 10.6 percent.

Ford’s prospects for 2025 aren't good, considering it will axe another model. The Focus will die later this year, leaving the Mustang as the firm's sole model that's not a crossover/SUV, truck, or commercial vehicle. Killing the Focus will leave a mark, considering the compact model generated 85,366 sales in Europe last year, according to numbers published by Dataforce (via Automotive News Europe). A similar strategy has already been applied in the United States, where the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion, and Taurus were discontinued years ago.

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Why is Ford's regular car lineup shrinking? According to CEO Jim Farley, the Dearborn automaker is "getting out of the boring-car business and into the iconic-vehicle business." Although he admits cars like the Fiesta and Focus "were loved by a lot of customers," they're not profitable enough to warrant new investments. Instead, Ford has set its sights on becoming the "No. 1 undisputed off-road brand in the world," according to Farley. Earlier this month at the 2025 Detroit Auto Show, he went as far as to say he wants to turn the company into the "Porsche of off-road" by growing the Tremor, Bronco, and Raptor brands.

Ford of Europe has two new fully electric vehicles on sale based on VW Group's MEB platform. The Explorer and Capri are heavily related to the ID.4 and ID.5, respectively. However, ACEA's sales results for 2024 show that the market share of EVs fell from 15.7 percent to 15.4 percent in the EU+EFTA+UK area. In the EU region alone, the market share of purely electric vehicles dropped by one percent to 13.6 percent. Many countries either eliminated or reduced incentives for electric cars last year, forcing buyers to reconsider their options.

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Source: European Automobile Manufacturers' Association

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