
Ford wants to steal customers from premium carmakers with higher-end versions of its mass-market models as it tries to end years of losses in Europe.

Ford wants to steal customers from premium carmakers with higher-end versions of its mass-market models as it tries to end years of losses in Europe.
New-car registrations in Europe rose 4 percent in April with mass-market automakers Renault, Ford, Opel and PSA showing stronger growth than premium brands.
Registrations in the EU and EFTA markets increased to 1.13 million vehicles from 1.08 million a year earlier, industry association ACEA said today in a statement. Four-month sales gained 7 percent to 4.48 million.

Ford is counting on new models and stabilizing markets to boost its European sales this year, after the automaker’s deliveries in the region rose 7 percent in April on growing demand in the UK, France and Spain.

US automakers Ford and Chrysler recalled on Friday hundreds of thousands of vehicles, most of them in North America, to fix faulty software and mechanical problems.The two companies, in separate recall announcements, said they did not know of any injuries or deaths linked to the defects.

Ford is recalling almost 4,000 commercial versions of its F-Series full-size pickup truck, mostly in the United States, because they could slip into reverse and increase the risk of a crash, according to documents filed with U.S. safety regulators.