A Rough Ride for Ford Motor Company (F) in Europe

Some of those new models – many of which are variations on familiar Ford products – are already en route. The Focus Electric, a sportier version of the Fiesta, the EcoSport (a small SUV based on the Fiesta’s platform), and revised versions of the Transit Connect commercial van and the Tourneo Connect, its passenger van counterpart, are all due to debut in Europe this year.

The upshot: Get used to ugly sales updates
Most Ford shareholders who watch the Blue Oval’s European results are used to grim sales reports at this point, but we should be clear: They’re likely to continue for awhile. With the market set to contract further, and with Ford – like rival General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) , which is busy with its own European overhaul – resisting the price-cutting war being waged by the likes of VW and Fiat , continued slides in market share seem more likely than not, at least for the next few quarters.

The good news is that things are probably going to get quite a bit better for Ford over the next couple of years, even if Europe’s auto market continues to stink. Ford’s plan for restoring Europe to profitability is a good one, and the company’s success with a similar approach in North America means that its chances of success are quite good – good enough, in fact, that I continue to think that the likelihood of a Europe turnaround is a big part of why Ford stock is still a buy at the moment.

The article A Rough Ride for Ford in Europe originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by John Rosevear.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.