Changan Ford Mazda, a tie-up between Ford Motor Co. (F), Chongqing Changan Auto Co. and Mazda Motor, has posted a staggering 55% rise in sales to 316,139 vehicles in 2009, driven by the Chinese Government’s incentives to push auto sales. In December alone, the joint venture sold 27,680 cars, up 61% from the year-ago level.
General Motors’ joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industries Corp. (SAIC) has also shown an impressive rise of 63.3% in sales to 727,620 vehicles. Further, the automaker’s joint venture with SAIC and Wuling became China’s first enterprise to exceed 1 million units in annual sales in 2009. Sales in the SAIC–GM–Wuling joint venture rose 63.9%to 1.06 million vehicles.
The Chinese auto industry has been developing incentives for car owners to shift to more environment-friendly and fuel-efficient cars. While the domestic automakers (especially small-car manufacturers) received most of the incentives, foreign automakers benefited from them as well.
The collapse in the U.S. auto industry in 2009 was somewhat offset by the surging sales in China, marking a stark shift in global vehicle sales volumes that was much quicker than anyone had expected. All these have led several global automakers, including GM and Ford, to strengthen their foothold in China’s fast-growing market in order to drive sales amid slack demand elsewhere.
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