Ford Motor Co. (F) posted its best-ever total sales in China during the first half of 2010. During the period, the automaker sold 301,524 vehicles, up by a robust 53% from the year-ago level.
Ford’s passenger car sales growth in China was driven mainly by the popularity of the compact car Ford Fiesta. Sales of Fiesta rose a staggering 113% to 38,669 units during the first half of the year.
The other car nameplates that did well in the country include Ford Focus, Ford Mondeo and Ford S-MAX. Ford’s passenger car joint venture in China, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile, showed an impressive 46% gain in sales to 205,563 vehicles through the first 6 months of 2010.
Ford Transit led the sales growth in the commercial vehicle sector. The brand sold 25,227 units during the period, up by a whopping 78% from the year-ago period. This helped the automaker’s commercial vehicle joint venture in China, Jiangling Motors Corporation, to achieve a 66% sales growth to 88,363 units during the period.
Ford also gained attention by posting its best monthly performance in a decade in June in Canada. The automaker’s June sales in Canada rose 15.7% to 31,707 vehicles. The company’s car sales in the country went up 23.3% while truck sales increased 13.2%.
In the U.S., Ford witnessed a 15.4% rise in sales to 170,900 vehicles (excluding Volvo cars). This was mainly driven by strong sales of F-Series pickup (58%) and the new Ford Mustang (37%).
Ford’s car sales were up 16%, utilities 3% and trucks 25% in the U.S. Combined sales of the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands rose 28% to 954,745 vehicles. Among the three core brands, Mercury topped in terms of sales growth (26.2%). This can be attributed to the huge sales promotion for the brand, as the dealers need to clear their inventory in the wake of the brand’s discontinuation by the end of this year.
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