Ford to restart imported car business in China

Shanghai September 28 (Gasgoo.com) Ford Motor Co. will restart its imported car business, suspended in 2008 due to economic crisis, in China. In the past two years, the U.S. automaker has well restructured its core Ford brand, production platforms and regional business, Tang Jidong, marketing and sales service director of Ford China, said in an interview with National Business Daily on September 15.

Ford will launch the Edge, a mid-sized SUV, in China at the end of this year, its first foray into the country's SUV market in seven years. Tang Jidong, when asked for his opinion of the Edge's prospect in the Chinese market, said Ford will also consider locally producing the car to lower its price and improve competitiveness, provided there is enough market demand.

The automaker's resumption of its imported car business in China is to promote the Ford brand and take more market share, Tang said, adding that Ford does not expect a sales increase contributed by the Edge, and it is otherwise trying to improve its brand influence in the country and impress the Chinese consumers with a rich product portfolio.

Tang said Ford will import four new models into China in the next three years, in accordance with its own steady development strategy. Moreover, he said Jiangling Motor Corporation (JMC) is always a great partner of Ford that will thus invest more in the Jiangxi-based automaker. Outsiders assume that Ford will produce its SUVs at the joint venture with JMC.