Ford Hits the Globe Running

Earlier this year, Ford (NYSE: F) CEO Alan Mulally announced ambitious plans for Ford's global growth, including increasing sales by a whopping 50% over the next four years. If it meets that goal, Ford will sell 8 million vehicles around the world, putting it on par with Toyota (NYSE: TM), the world's No. 1 automaker. I decided to check in on the company's progress around the rest of the globe. After all, in 2010, markets outside of North America accounted for 49% of all sales, and that number is only expected to grow.

Canada
We'll start with our neighbors to the north. Ford had its best Canadian June since 1989, watching total sales increase 6% over last year. Six Ford models had double-digit increases over last year.

Source: Company press release.

Ford has already sold more Ford Explorers in Canada than they did all of last year. These results have propelled Ford to the No. 1 automaker position in Canada for the month of June and year-to-date.

Brazil
Despite being one of the hottest auto markets in the world this year, auto sales fell in Brazil in June. Ford sales were down 1.7% from May, but I have a hard time calling the month a failure. Brazil's economy is expected to grow at 4% for the remainder of the year, and the biggest problem automakers face is meeting surging demand with a shortage of skilled workers and frequent worker strikes. Let's see how the market leaders fared in June.

Source: Reuters.

Volkswagen suffered the worst decline in sales, mostly because of striking workers, but it actually sold the most cars after Fiat. Fiat sold 2.5 times more vehicles than Ford in Brazil during June, but Ford's small sales decrease means the Blue Oval is doing a good job of holding on to its numbers. There is definitely room for improvement, but again, not the worst news in the world.

United Kingdom
Ford is enjoying some impressive successes across the pond. Again, overall car sales in the U.K. were down for the month of June. For all automakers other than Ford, that is. June car sales increased 3% over the same time last year. Market share was up 1 percentage point, and, much like with Canada, these increases mean that Ford is No. 1 in U.K. auto sales.

Middle East
Unlike almost every other region in the world, Ford's fuel-efficient models aren't driving growth in the Middle East. Across the region, the mid-sized Taurus led all models in growth.

Source: Gulf News.

Who would've predicted that oil-rich nations wouldn't be interested in fuel-efficient vehicles? Regardless, the above sales increases have contributed to Ford's growing market share in the Gulf. Sales through the first half of the year in the Gulf region grew 63% over the same period last year, with Saudi Arabia leading the way with 88% growth.

China
Ford has some ground to gain in Asia, where companies like General Motors and Volkswagen have more prominent brands and larger market share. Through the first half of the year, sales are up 14% over the same time last year. Sales for the month of June are up 11% over last year.

Ford's joint ventures in China are also seeing success this year. Sales climbed 16% in June for Changan Ford Mazda Automobile. Year-to-date, sales for the company's Jiangling Motors Corporation are up 19% over the same time last year. To continue growing these numbers, Ford has three Chinese plants coming online between now and 2013. All of this is part of Ford's plan to have 32% of global sales come from the Asia Pacific region.

Foolish takeaway
In a few instances, Ford's June sales dipped a bit from May sales. Frankly, it's just not enough to cause me to worry. The company showed excellent growth through the first half of the year on a global scale. While there is no way to predict whether it can meet Mulally's goal of increasing global sales by 50% by 2015, Ford is certainly making progress.

• Add Ford to My Watchlist.