Ford Motor Co. (F, Financial) released its fourth quarter China sales on Jan. 13. Quarterly sales rose on a year-over-year basis thanks to new product launches and localization strategy success. In addition, strong sales at the commercial vehicles and luxury segments helped results.
Detroit-based automaker General Motors Co. (GM, Financial), which reported sales on Jan. 6, posted a sales growth of 14.1% on a year-over-year basis to 954,325 units in China.
Overview of the quarter
Ford sold a total of 190,916 vehicles in China in the fourth quarter, which reflected a gain of 30.3% from a year earlier. The quarter also saw 25.4% sales growth over the third quarter.
Ford Brand SUV sales reached about 50,000 units, which grew 86.5% compared to the year before and roughly 140,000 units in 2020, up 32.4% as compared to 2019. Within the segment, Escape sales amounted to nearly 12,000 units in the fourth quarter.
Lincoln luxury vehicles witnessed a quarterly sales increase of 74.9% on a year-over-year basis to more than 22,600 units, driven by strong performance of Lincoln Corsair and Aviator, making up 76% of the segment's fourth quarter sales. Ford China's CEO and president Anning Chen commented the following on the company's performance:
"Ford's sales momentum is a reflection of our continued focus to grow in China and deliver on our 'Best of Ford, Best of China' commitment. We fully intend to strengthen that momentum with a winning strategy that optimizes our product mix and localizes production of world-class Ford and Lincoln vehicles to meet rising Chinese customer demand."
With the exception of Chevrolet and Baojun, all major General Motors brands posted quarterly growth in China. Wuling and Buick were the best brands in China in terms of volume sold. While the former sold 373,579 units, the latter delivered 290,027 units.
Road ahead for Ford and GM
General Motors has introduced more than 10 new electric vehicles in the world's hottest car market. The company's NEV sales in China in 2020 surged four-fold as compared to the prior year. Given the scintillating run NEVs have had in China, the company said more than 40% of the new launches in China in the next five years will be NEVs.
As for Ford, the company struggled to grow its sales in the world's hottest car market for the past few years. Ford's sales slipped 37% in 2018, followed by a 26% decline in 2019. The company cited aging model lineup as the reason for the decline.
Fortunately, the Michigan-based automaker recorded 6.1% sales growth for full-year 2020. Additionally, the company registered its third consecutive quarter of sales growth in the region. To keep the momentum going, the company said it would launch new products and adopt localization strategies.
Disclosure: I do not hold any positions in the stocks mentioned.
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