Once the undisputed leader of the UK automotive market, Ford has seen its dominance unravel over the past decade – with its slow, awkward transition to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) coming under fire.
While Ford has now committed to an all-electric future, some would say its transition critically did not match the pace of its competitors while its singular concentrate on SUVs left its loyal fan base feeling abandoned at roughly the identical rate the automotive maker proceeded to ditch a complete raft of much-loved models.
Strong demand for stylish, high-margin SUVs – alongside a world push for profitability and efficiency -prompted Ford to axe several models, including the best-selling Fiesta, in addition to the Mondeo and S-Max, reflecting a shift away from traditional saloons and hatchbacks in favour of more globally viable products.
At the identical time, Ford has struggled to maintain pace within the fast-growing electric vehicle market, where brands like Volkswagen, Tesla, Hyundai, Kia, Skoda, and Cupra have surged ahead.
In 2024, Ford’s UK market share fell to five.6%, with just 110,000 recent automotive registrations – only a 3rd of what it sold a decade ago. For comparison, it sold over 133,000 Fiestas alone in 2015.
This sharp decline has prompted a significant restructuring of its retail network. Ford has significantly reduced its variety of UK dealers and scaled back its FordStore network, despite those sites representing major franchisee investments lower than ten years ago.
There’s no doubt today that Ford is investing in EVs. The model line-up is now crammed with EV options, with the Explorer, Mustang Mach-E and the brand new Capri SUV evidence of the automotive maker’s electric ambition. These latest EV offerings have yet to seek out their footing and face stiff competition from Chinese newcomers corresponding to BYD and Omoda, especially within the fleet sector.
With the demise of the Focus in November, Ford has only two petrol-engined recent cars on sale in Britain: the best-selling mid-size SUV Kuga and the smaller, compact Puma – an all-electric version of which launched this spring as a reasonable family offering.
Lisa Brankin, Ford UK chair and managing director was swift to commend the federal government’s July 14 pivot to incentivise EV ownership with consumer grants reducing the associated fee of sub-£37,000 electric cars by as much as £3,750 – targeted at cars in a reasonable sweet spot corresponding to the all-electric Puma Gen-E.
“Ford applauds the UK government for taking this step. We’ve been on the frontline of the conversation, highlighting the urgent need for consumer-based incentives for electric vehicles, and now they’ve arrived,” she said.
“Ford Puma is the best-selling automotive within the UK and the federal government grant will help make the all-electric Puma Gen-E even cheaper.”
Solid gains made
There are also signs Ford is back on the front foot with sales performance in the primary half of 2025 revealing a business making solid gains in each volume and electrification, whilst competitive pressures mount.
Within the passenger vehicle segment, Ford registered 57,003 units year-to-date, a rise of 1,497 vehicles compared with the identical period in 2024 – a growth of two.7%. Nevertheless, despite this uptick in volume, the brand’s market share edged down barely from 5.6% to five.5% reflecting it’s being barely outpaced by broader market growth.
Probably the most striking development in Ford’s passenger automotive performance this yr has been the sharp increase in BEV penetration. Within the yr to this point, 18.0% of Ford’s passenger automotive sales have been electric, a considerable jump from just 4.1% at the identical point in 2024.
In absolute terms, this shift means Ford has sold roughly 10,260 electric passenger cars up to now this yr, up from just over 2,270 the previous yr – a fourfold increase which positions Ford as an increasingly serious player within the EV space.
Nevertheless, the slight erosion in overall market share, despite volume growth, again highlights the challenges of sustaining a competitive edge.
When it comes to passenger vehicle sales, EV market expert Ben Nelmes at non-profit Latest AutoMotive, says that in line with his figures, Ford has notched up the fastest growing EV passenger automotive sales in H1 2025, with battery automotive registrations up over 300% on the identical period last yr, followed by Renault (251%) – each of whom missed their ZEV targets last yr.
The table on the left shows that the BEV share of Ford’s sale is at 16.63%, up 12.61 percentage points – which works out as a 333% increase.
“To search out the fastest growing manufacturers up to now this yr now we have to go down our table to Ford which has grown its BEV segment to 333% in comparison with figures last yr,” he said.
Business success
Turning to the industrial vehicle segment which stays a shiny spot: industrial vehicles. Ford continues to guide the UK light industrial vehicle market through its 115 Transit Centres. In 2024, it registered almost 113,000 recent LCVs and a further 3,375 heavy vans – surpassing the 106,000 LCVs it sold in 2015.covering light and medium industrial vehicles (LCVs and MCVs).
Here, Ford has delivered a robust first-half performance, achieving each volume growth and significant share gains (+4 points) while its BEV mix has surged from 1.7% to six.2%, which bears testament to the success of its electric strategy.
Ford reports that it has delivered a very strong showing in 2025. 12 months-to-date volumes have reached 61,357 units, up from 59,371 in 2024, representing a 3.3% increase.
More significantly, Ford’s market share on this category has climbed significantly, rising from 31.6% last yr to 35.6% this yr – a transparent signal of Ford’s growing dominance within the LCV/MCV space.
When it comes to electrification, Ford has made notable strides too. The BEV mix inside Ford’s industrial vehicle sales has risen from 1.7% in 2024 to six.2% up to now in 2025. That equates to around 3,805 of Ford’s all-electric industrial vehicles, compared with around 1,009 at the identical stage last yr.
The growing uptake of electrical industrial models, particularly the E-Transit, and reflects increasing demand from fleets and public sector buyers searching for to fulfill emissions targets and sustainability goals.
Here, Nelmes at Latest AutoMotive, says: “Praise needs to be given to Ford, which saw its BEV registrations increase nearly ten-fold in comparison with 12 months earlier, reaching a ten% share of its total sales.”
Competition stays intense, nonetheless. Nelmes notes that rival Peugeot has seen the same ZEV Mandate-busting 30% share of registrations up to now this yr, representing an actual flex of Peugeot’s BEV-selling muscle. Volkswagen and Toyota also managed to attain a near four-fold growth of their respective BEV registrations.
He also notes that while the increased uptake in hybrid vans will definitely help some manufacturers, especially the likes of Ford, look more more likely to comply with the ZEV Mandate following what he terms “the numerous watering-down” announced in April, they might find that they still have to consistently maintain BEV registrations at the extent they achieved by mid-year to make sure compliance by year-end.
Charting the long run
Talking to AM on the manufacturer’s recent opening of its EV Centre of Excellence in Daventry, Brankin, shared her perspective on how Ford plans to evolve over the subsequent five to 10 years.
“One in every of the important thing challenges Ford’s dealerships face is servicing a mixed fleet for the foreseeable future. The present vehicle parc includes petrol and diesel models alongside an increasing variety of EVs, each with distinct servicing needs,” she said.
Brankin describes this as a difficult period, explaining: “We’re moving in a sales environment driven by government targets, and you might have a network that has to administer all of that, alongside increases in connected vehicles.”
The dealership network which she champions must due to this fact be flexible and expert across multiple vehicle types, ensuring customers receive expert care no matter what they drive.
She added that connectivity offers Ford an enormous opportunity to reshape aftersales care, delivering a more proactive and efficient service.
“Vehicles that may communicate diagnostic information allow us to intervene proactively.” This capability means dealerships can anticipate maintenance issues before they escalate, reducing unexpected breakdowns and enhancing vehicle uptime,” she said.
In practical terms, this permits Ford’s aftersales teams to access distant diagnostic information before a vehicle even arrives within the workshop. Such operational efficiencies profit each customers, who experience faster turnaround times, and dealers, who can optimise labour and parts inventory.
Maintaining leadership
Just as Ford is starting to see the primary real fruits of its efforts within the all-electric space, its relative market share by way of passenger vehicles will proceed to face headwinds – especially with the entry of Chinese automotive makers entering with compelling offers and driven by their very own aggressive growth plans.
Brankin is under no illusion as to the impact of recent entrants and is accepting of the challenge. “It’s just more competition. The UK has at all times been a very competitive environment, and seeing more manufacturers coming in is just increasing competitiveness. I feel it’s our job to be certain that that we maintain our competitive position.”
Regarding tariffs and trade disputes, Brankin offers reassurance that Ford’s European manufacturing strategy has largely shielded the corporate from recent global friction.
“In Europe, we construct just about all of our vehicles in Europe, for Europe so the tariff conversations haven’t really impacted our European business very much,” she says.
The previous couple of years have underscored the fragility of world supply chains – something which Brankin acknowledges.
“Since probably COVID, we have all change into quite a bit more aware of how global your storm may be, somewhere within the far a part of the world can have an effect,” she tells AM.
On this, she says Ford’s supply teams are actively working to remain ahead of potential disruptions, though harnessing unpredictability stays a continuing challenge. “Our purchasing and provide teams are working really hard to be certain that that we get ahead of any of those issues but there’s loads of unpredictability out there, and sometimes it’s hard to administer and predict,” she admits.
This Article First Appeared At www.am-online.com
