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Ford Motor Co. might be experiencing sales declines at home, but the market in China seems to like the troubled auto maker.
The Free Press reports show that Ford sales in China jumped 25 percent to a little over 93,000 cars and trucks. Ford offers not only Ford and Lincoln models, but sells from its Premiere Automotive Group (Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover) in the country as well. The company plans to introduce the third generation Ford Mondeo, a premium midsize to large car normally sold only in Europe, into the Chinese market later this year.
However, much of its success in the Middle Kingdom is due to the refreshed 2007 Ford Focus. Manufactured in Chongqing, China since the third quarter of 2005, the Focus has reached sales of 55,676 in the first half of this year.
Ford also owns 30 percent of Jiangling Motors, a manufacturer of commercial vehicles as well as other products; it has a 50-50 joint venture with Changan Automotive. Ford, Changan, and Mazda came together this year to create an engine plant which has been working since April.
More details can be found at the link above. Our take? We would not be surprised if Ford follows Chrysler's direction and imports Chinese-manufactured Ford vehicles into the U.S. one day.
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