Ford's vehicle sales in China tumble for third consecutive year

Ford Motor Co'sChinavehiclesalesfell for athirdconsecutiveyear, by 26.1 percent, as it battles a prolonged overallsalesdecline in its second-biggest market that has hit demand for its mass-market Ford brand and sports utilityvehicles.

The USautomaker delivered 146,473vehicles inChinain the fourth quarter, down 14.7 percent year-on-year, Ford said in a statement. In total, it sold 567,854vehicles over 2019.

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Ford has been trying to revivesalesinChinaafter its business began slumping in late 2017.

Salessank 37percent in 2018, after a 6 percent decline in 2017.

Anning Chen, president and chief executive of Ford GreaterChina, said that while 2019 was a "challenging"yearfor the automaker, it saw its market share in the high-to-premium segment stabilise and itssalesdecline in the value segment start to narrow in the second-half of theyear.

"The pressure from the external environment and downward trend of the industry volume will continue in 2020, and we will put more efforts into strengthening our product lineup with more customer-centric products and customer experiences to mitigate the external pressure and improve dealers' profitability."

The automaker plans to launch more than 30 new models inChinaover the next threeyears of which over athirdwill be electricvehicles. It has also said it would localise management teams by hiring more Chinese staff and aimed to improve relationships with joint venture partners.

New models it launched in the fourth quarter include a new Ford Escape version - for which the automaker said orders received so far have been much higher than expected - and the Lincoln Corsair, the first localized Lincoln model inChina.

InChina, Ford makes cars through a joint venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co Ltd and Jiangling Motors Corp Ltd (JMC). It has also said it would partner Zotye Automobile Co Ltd to sell lower priced cars.

Its larger USrival General Motors Co last week said itssalesinChinafell 15percent from ayearearlier to 3.09 millionvehicles in 2019, its secondyearof decline.

China's auto market is set to contract by 2 percent in 2020 for thethirdyearof decline, theChinaAssociation of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) forecast, due to a weaker economy and trade dispute with the United States.

Over 28 millionvehicles were sold in 2018, down 3percent from the prioryear, while 2019salesare likely to have declined 8percent from the prioryear, CAAM said.