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.