Ford misses market share target in China in 2007

Shanghai. February 22 (Gasgoo.com) - Though Ford sales in China were up more than 25 percent over 2006, the automaker missed its 2007 market share target, which means Ford is growing in China but not fast enough to catch up with its competitors, The Detroit News reported yesterday.

 

The report said the company had planned to increase its market share from 2% to 2.4%, but in fact only managed a rise to 2.1%. The report also said that Ford localization rate in China stands merely 70 percent, far below its global competitors in the market, which potentially means that Ford is losing as much as US$1,000 per vehicle in profit.

 

For example, Ford's compact car Focus is listed on the top10 best-selling cars in China, but the automaker's profit margins were slimmer than those of its competitor due to low localization rate.

 

Ford says it is learning from marketing mistakes, convincing important suppliers to follow it to China and aggressively expanding its manufacturing capabilities in the country.

 

Ford did not open its first factory in China until 2003 -- five years after GM started producing cars there and 18 years after Volkswagen AG, the market leader in China.

 

"We started out later, but we are really moving decisively and quickly," Ford CEO Alan Mulally said in an interview.