Ford drives up prices again

When you're desperate to sell something it's not the best idea to make it cost more, but Ford has done just that, adding nearly one thousand pounds to the cost of its most expensive models.

The Blue Oval blames the weakness of the pound against the Euro, because having stayed fairly steady for ten years, the exchange rate began to change rapidly at the beginning of 2008: it has dipped from an average 1.43 Euro to the pound to around 1.16 Euro now.

Ford's UK arm claims that for a £15,000 car that drop equates to around £3,500 lost because Ford incurs its costs in Euros. The maker estimates it's suffered “nine figure” losses over the last couple of years as a direct result, and as such is raising prices by four percent across its range.

The move means an extra £600-700 will be lumped onto the average Ka, Fiesta or Focus, with more on bigger, more expensive cars, and it comes after a similar increase was implemented less than three months ago. Furthermore, Ford has warned that more price rises could be around the corner.

Mark Nichol