Ford china report very strong sell in 2009 but will
end Partnership with Mazda In China By 2012
Ford Motor posted a 44 percent jump in its China vehicle
sales last year and aims to outpace growth in the world’s largest
auto market this year
Ford, which broke ground for a $490 million new China plant in
September, sold 440,619 vehicles in the country in 2009.
That compared with 306,306 units in 2008 and marked an
acceleration in annual growth from 32 percent in the first nine
months of 2009, the company said in a statement.
“We think there will be something like 8 percent growth of the
market this year,” Nigel Harris, head of Ford’s sales and marketing
in China, told reporters. “Our ambition is to sell more than 8
percent.”
Despite a 33% jump in December, Ford’s sales in the U.S.
slipped 15% to 1.62 million units in 2009.
China likely displaced the U.S. as the largest auto market last
year, a first for the Asian country as domestic sales boomed last
year while sales growth in the U.S. fell to record lows.
Overall auto sales in the U.S. last year will likely total 10.4
million vehicles, Ford said earlier, which would be the lowest
level since 1982, when sales totaled 10.3 million, according to
Autodata Corp.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, which expects
sales in China to have exceeded 13 million last year, is scheduled
to issue data next week.
Ford’s strong vehicle sales in China were driven by the
popularity of the Focus compact car and the Fiesta subcompact car,
it said. In addition, sales of its Transit light van rose 22% to
33,585 units.
The company plans to introduce three new models to China and one
updated model , Nigel Harris, general manager of Changan Ford
Mazda, said in November
Ford’s performance lags that of its rival, General Motors Co.,
whose sales in China soared 67% last year to 1.83 million units.
Toyota Motor Corp.’s
China sales rose 21% to 709,000 units in 2009.
Mazda, Ford To End Output Partnership In China By
2012
They will likely spin off the joint venture’s factory in Nanjing
as a 50-50 joint venture between Mazda and Changan Automobile
Group, while Ford and Changan will run the venture’s other factory
in Chongqing, the business paper said.
“It was sometimes difficult to coordinate production (in the
three-way joint venture,)” Nikkei quoted a senior Mazda official as
saying.
Mazda Motor Corp. will end its partnership with Ford Motor
Co in China by 2012 in order to allow itself to independently
make decisions such as production increases, the Nikkei reported in
its Sunday morning edition, without citing sources.
The newspaper also said the Japanese car maker plans to continue
partnership on production with Ford in the U.S. and Thailand.
source
http://autoten.com/2010/01/23/ford-china-report-very-strong-sell-in-2009-but-will-end-partnership-with-mazda-in-china-by-2012/