Ford reports 26% YoY sales slump in April for Chinese market

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Ford Motor reported its April sales slump of 26% from a year earlier to 69,503 vehicles in China. The company's cumulative sales in China reached 276,642 units with a YoY sales slide of 21% during the past four months.

Changan Ford sold 40,703 units in April, declining 35% over the previous year. During the first four months, the JV's cumulative sales reached 165,162 units with a YoY drop of 28%. JMC delivered 23,903 units in April, down 6% from the same period a year ago. JMC's cumulative sales totaled 90,443 units with a drop of 6% compared to the same period last year.

As to Lincoln brand, it also suffered a YoY sales decline of 14% to 3,553 units in April. However, thanks to the strong market demands of Lincoln-branded luxury sedans and large SUVs, sales of the Lincoln Continental 4, Navigator and MKX grew by 16%, 32% and 6% respectively over the previous year. 

Peter Fleet, president of Ford Asia Pacific and CEO, Ford China stated that Ford China ushered in a significant milestone for its China 2025 plan. "As part of China 2025 plan, we introduce a series of all-new midsize sedan models, which will be designed and developed to meet Chinese consumers' demands as well as driving and riding habits, and also will be locally produced by Changan Ford. "

Ford Motor presented an array of new models at Auto China 2018, including the all-new Ford Focus, the new Escort and the new Ranger Wildtrak. Besides, luxury vehicle brand Lincoln brought the Aviator, Nautilus and new MKC at Auto China 2018, which will further enhance Lincoln's position in luxury SUV market. 

In the meantime, Ford Motor also announced that it will build distribution and service institutions across China in the second half of this year, which will take charge of the marketing, sales and service of all Ford-branded passenger vehicle products. As a part of this move, the imported Ford Explorer, the best-selling SUV model in North America for many years, will be available across Changan Ford's existing dealership network. Moreover, Ford Motor announced the local production of the next-gen Ford Explorer at Auto China 2018.