Ford's Record Sales for 1953 •
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FOR the first time in the company's history, the total value of group sales last year exceeded £100,000,000, Sir Rowland Smith, chairman of the Ford Motor Co., Ltd., stated in his annual report last week.
Total exports fell slightly below the 1952 level, but Sir Rowland did not expect any "sudden evaporation" of the overseas markets which had been so firmly established. The best export markets were Australia, Sweden, South Africa, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand.
More vehicles were sold at home in 1953 than in the previous scar. The Cost-Cutter four-cylindered engine was an immediate success, and the new oil engine should stimulate the trend towards the increasing use of -such units, he stated.
Commenting upon the Government's five-year plan for road development, Sir Rowland said that this did not even begin to scratch the surface of the problem. The main roads should be quickly brought to a condition where they were a -help and not a hindrance to industry, so that transport costs could be reduced. "Here is a field." he stated, "in which _ really bold development plans over the next few years will yield ample reward."