Ford China has sold 176,274 vehicles year-to-date in China, the world's largest auto market.
After three straight months of declining sales in China, Ford Motor said today that sales increased 24% year-over-year to 54,881 based on wholesale deliveries. Ford China has now sold 176,274 vehicles year-to-date in China.
Market leader General Motors and its communist government required joint ventures in China set a domestic sales record for April of 227,217 vehicles. Demand was up 11.7% from the same month in 2011. Its performance in April took GM’s sales for the first four months of the year to 972,369 units, an increase of 9.4% on an annual basis. GM has now sold more than one million vehicles in China, the earliest it has ever accomplished this. The Volkswagen Group – Number Two in China sales behind GM – has delivered 858,900 vehicles year-to-date.The Volkswagen brand alone reported a 13% increase in China deliveries through April at 653,300 compared to 578,200 during the same period in 2011.
Ford’s passenger car venture, Changan Ford Mazda Automotive (CFMA), launched the all-new Focus in April. CFMA began producing the new Focus in a new facility and announced its price range of RMB 119,900 – 169,900 ($19,000 – $27,000) at Auto China in Beijing. CFMA sold 34,108 Ford brand wholesale vehicles this month, an increase of 30% from April 2011.
Jiangling Motors Corporation (JMC) Ford’s commercial vehicle investment in China, sold 20,773 wholesale vehicles this month, an increase of 16%.
In April, Ford announced a new manufacturing facility in Hangzhou and an expansion in its operations in Chongqing, which will double its passenger car capacity in China to 1.2 million units by mid-decade.
After Ford’s annual meeting this morning, the Number Two U.S. automaker said Gary Johnson, 48, vice president of Manufacturing, Ford Asia Pacific and Africa, was elected a company officer and will continue to lead Ford’s manufacturing activities in the region. Kumar Galhotra, 46, was also elected a company officer and will continue in his role as vice president of Product Development, Ford Asia Pacific and Africa. In addition, Marin Burela, 50, president of Chang’an Ford Mazda Motor Company, also has been elected a company officer in his current role.
