With continued positive results in March, Ford Australia has produced its best first quarter sales result since 1990, after recording sales of more than 32,000 vehicles for the first three months of 2005.

Ford's first quarter total of 32,323 vehicle sales was up by 1,854 units or 6.1 per cent over Q1 2004.

"The first quarter result is further proof of the strength of our current product line-up and the continuing sales success of individual models like Territory, BA MkII Falcon and Fiesta," Ford Australia President Tom Gorman said.

"Ford's year-on-year first quarter growth of 6.1 per cent is running ahead of the total industry growth, which is up 4.5 per cent."

During March, Ford sold 12,019 vehicles, an increase of 209 units or 1.8 per cent compared to the same month last year, with Territory, Fiesta, Courier and F-Series making very strong contributions to the overall result.

"Territory set a new record during March with 2,275 sales, up about 100 units over the previous record from last December, as well as an increase of almost 10 per cent on last month's strong performance," Mr Gorman said.

"The outstanding Territory result contributed to Ford setting an all-time total SUV sales record of 2,636 vehicles.

"Fiesta also continues to be a strong seller for the company after finishing the month with 482 sales, just two sales shy of its all-time record."

"In the Light truck sector, the Courier and F-Series ranges have once again set new sales benchmarks, with both model lines producing their best first quarter results on record."

Ford sold 1,750 Courier models and 606 F-Series models during Q1, with Courier 4x2 also recording its best March result since 2001 with 287 sales.

"Another highlight amongst Ford's light truck line-up was the strong performance by the BA MkII Falcon Ute range with 1,762 sales," Mr Gorman said.

"Falcon Ute outsold its key competitor by 373 units during March, after improving on its performance from the previous month by 14.5 per cent."

Ford also sold 5,026 Falcon models, contributing to total Passenger sales of 6,461 vehicles for an increase of 392 vehicles on the previous month.

2005 Ford F250