Ford has brought excellent engineering, dynamics and technology into the mainstream, with a broad series of products that can target the premium brand down-sizer just as capably as the consumer buying their first new car. It is a dominant force in retail and fleet, with superb passenger cars and light commercial vehicles and a clear strategy that is cutting much of the wastefulness and duplication that used to beset its global manufacturing and distribution operations.

The launches in 2014 of niche halo products, such as the Mustang, GT supercar and premium-wannabe Vignale versions of its bread-and-butter cars, have shown the UK’s car-buying public that Ford will not just sit back and let the ambitious Korean and Japanese brands gain on its heels. In fact, its latest products, such as the Kuga, Mondeo and S-Max, are so well engineered and specified that they look able to win back some of the custom lost in previous years to the German manufacturers’ lower executive models.

The brand is positioning itself as a true 21st-century carmaker, with innovative technology at the fore, from low-emissions, small-capacity, turbocharged engines to its Sync 2 in-car connectivity solution and MyKey system which helps to keep novice drivers in check. Such measures are crucial in giving prospective customers a reason to find out more about Ford.

Yet it is also careful to encourage its faithful customers, with aftersales retention measures, such as BlueService, designed to demonstrate the added value gained from sticking with the brand.

Category sponsor: Touchpoint

Shortlisted
BMW UK
Nissan Motor GB

Previous winners
2014 Land Rover UK; 2013 Land Rover; 2012 Hyundai Motor UK