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Despite Chinese New Year Slowdown, Ford Sales in China Up 18 Percent Through February

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Ford Motor Company reported a 9% year-over-year decrease in China last month, moving a total of 63,350 vehicles between its Changan Ford Automobile and Jiangling Motors Corporation joint ventures and imports. Through the first two months of the year, however, Ford’s sales in China are up a total of 18% at a grand total of 194,182 vehicles delivered.

Sales in January totaled 130,832 vehicles, a 36% increase from sales in January 2015 that was led primarily by 33% year-over-year gains for the Mondeo and 75% year-over-year gains for the combined SUV lineup of EcoSport, Kuga, Edge, Explorer, and Everest.

The significant month-to-month drop in February is being attributed to Chinese New Year, which came earlier than it normally does this year and resulted in a multi-week shutdown of manufacturing that affected sales across the board for other automakers.

Changan Ford Automobile reported a 10% sales decrease with 13,173 vehicles sold, while Jiangling Motors Corporation reported a 4% sales increase with a total of 14,054 vehicles sold. To-date, CAF’s sales total 160,119 vehicles, up 29% from the pace set through two months in 2015. JMC’s sales, on the other hand, are down 13% at a total of 31,309 vehicles sold.

Sales of imports in February totaled 1,033, down 50% year-over-year. Despite the decline, the Ford Mustang continues to be a strong seller for the brand.

Ford’s strongest performance in February came from the Escort, which was up 15% year-over-year with a total of 13,173 examples sold.

Sales are expected to rebound in March as regular production gets back underway, and the introduction of new products throughout the year should keep Ford on pace for a record year.