Ford's European sales up 12.3% in September

Ford Motor Co. said on Monday that its share of total car and truck sales in Europe reached 10.1% in September, marking the company's best market share performance since September 2001.

Ford said it sold 152,600 vehicles in its 19 primary European markets in September, a 12.3% increase compared with last September, beating an industry sales increase of 2.9%.

"I would say that this September was exceptional," said Ingvar Sviggum, Ford of Europe's vice president for marketing, sales and service. "We have now improved market share every month this year."

For all 51 countries in Ford's European region, the automaker sold 178,300 new cars and trucks in September, up 5% from the same month last year.

Sviggum said Ford's performance in the broader region was hurt by a steep decline in sales in Russia, where total industry sales declined 52% in September.