Competition heats up in the European heavy truck market

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Ford Trucks International  /  October 8, 2019

Ford Trucks and its IToY-winner F-MAX enter Western Europe starting with Spain and Portugal 

Ford Trucks has taken another important step in its global expansion, entering the Western European market by creating new distribution partnerships in Portugal and Spain. Recently, Ford Trucks achieved international acclaim with its F-MAX tractor, winning the 2019 International Truck of the Year (ITOY) award. With the F-MAX now in high demand, the company has increased its efforts to expand its distribution network into Western Europe.

With almost 60 years of experience in truck manufacturing and product development capabilities for international markets, Ford Trucks is now setting even higher goals for its global distribution network. 

Almost immediately after its world premiere at the IAA Commercial Vehicles trade show in Hannover, Germany, the Ford Trucks F-MAX took home the 2019 International Truck of the Year (ITOY) award. With international demand for its products stronger than ever, Ford Trucks is now pushing forward its plans to expand its distribution network into Western Europe, broadening its existing dealership and distributorship network in the Middle East, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe.

Portugal and Spain opening the doors to Western Europe

Ford Trucks has now assigned its first distributors in Western Europe in Portugal and Spain. The first facility in Portugal was opened in Lisbon in partnership with Oneshop. The plan is to add four more major cities (Porto, Leira, Algarve and Viseu) to the Portuguese dealership network by 2021. Meanwhile, Ford Trucks Spanish distributor F-Trucks Autumotive Hispania will be operating from nine different locations.

‘The successful journey of F-MAX continues with more awards after IToY.’

Ford Otosan CEO Haydar Yenigün, speaking about the important developments in Ford Trucks’ international expansion, said: “We are delighted that we have reached a point where we are breaking the mould in the heavy commercial industry. F-MAX brought us the coveted IToY award, winning acclaim for its engineering, design and power among its heavy commercial industry competitors. Now, F-MAX is continuing on its journey of success, with even more international awards, including Truck of the Year Awards in Austria and Russia.”

‘We aim to complete our Western European expansion by 2023.’

According to Yenigün, the F-MAX has added momentum to the company’s international expansion plans. “We have already established our distributorship network across three continents (Asia, Europe and Africa) reaching 44 countries by the end of 2019. The high interest in F-MAX led us to revise our global expansion plans, so we decided to shift gear and upgrade our goal to reaching at least 80 countries by the end of 2023.”  

Yenigün also discussed the company’s plans for the near future: ”Europe is our main export market and its potential is a key factor in our growth strategy. We plan to have established our distributor organisation in Italy by end of this year while aiming to cover almost all European countries by the end of 2023. In terms of revenue, we aim for Europe to account for 50% of our international sales. We want to create close ties with our customers across Europe through the dealership network as well as through our aftersales services. Our Europe-wide agreement with TIP Trailer Services gives us an opportunity to achieve complete customer satisfaction as we continue to expand.”

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