Ford Prepares for New Reform at the Crossroad of Achieving 1m Units' Sales

SHANGHAI December 27th, 2016 Gasgoo – Influenced by the flourishing Chinese auto market, Ford’s sales in China exceed 1m units one month ahead of time this year. Official data shows that Ford has total sales of 1.09m units from January to November, higher than the 985,000 units in last year. Its November sales reach 124,000 units, increasing 17% with the same period of last year.

In general, Ford experiences fluctuating developments this year in China, along with the frequent personnel adjustments in Asia-pacific area. But Ford still needs to look for new driving force to improve its product line.

Ford’s growth in China is mainly driven by the two joint-venture companies, Changan Ford and Jiangling Motors. Changan Ford’s total sales reach 842,000 units and grow 14% with the same period of last year in the previous 11 months this year. Jiangling Motors has total sales of 233,000 units, increasing 5%. But Changan Ford faced great sales fluctuations this year, whose monthly sales even decreased to 51,000 units in May. At the same time, Focus and Escort face growing sales, influenced by the halving purchasing tax policy. Besides, its SUV products have covered middle-and-large-size SUV, middle-size SUV and small-size SUV markets with growing sales volumes.

However, Ford still faces some threats from the changing policies and market demands in China. In fact, Chinese citizens have more willingness to enjoy the convenience brought by new technologies. It’s predicted that alternative energy vehicles are still the main driving force in Chinese market in the following five years. But Ford’s alternative energy vehicle strategy still focuses on HEV area, lagging behind with other multi-national companies.

“Ford plans to invest at least USD 4.5 Bn to launch 13 new BEV models before 2020 and expand its production line globally.” One relevant person said.