Ford losing ground in Asia-Pacific region

Ford is struggling to meet sales targets in the Asia-Pacific region, due mostly to a less than optimum product mix balanced in favor of larger vehicles. The Blue Oval has even lost ground in the burgeoning Chinese and Indian markets this past 12 months, as well as other key regions. In fact, Ford has lost market share in every Asian nation except for Japan, where sales have remained steady.

Currently Ford controls just 2.1% of the Asia, Pacific and African markets, 8.7% less than it had during this same period last year, and over 10% below its projected market share for the year, reports The Detroit News. Sales targets in China were missed for a number of reasons, according to Ford, such as the Sichuan earthquake earlier this year, as well as pollution restrictions imposed by the Beijing Olympics.

Meanwhile, rising fuel costs mean that the carmaker’s current product mix is still not matching market demands, as demonstrated in the Australian market, where Ford has around 10% less market share than it projected due to falling sales of its Falcon large sedan.

To combat the problems, management is rushing the release of the global Fiesta (pictured) for the Asian market, and is also committed to developing a small car for the Indian market in coming years. Ford's Australian factory will also be overhauled, with a new line dedicated to producing the Focus compact car from 2011 onwards.