In a bid to reverse slumping sales in the world’s top auto market, Ford Motor plans to create over 30 new models in China over the next three years of which over a third will be electric vehicles.
The US automaker, who made this known today, had previously said it would launch 50 significantly redesigned vehicles in China starting in 2018 and through 2025, lending more clarity and credibility to its statement today.
The company’s chief of Operation in China, Anning Chen said the automaker is aiming towards improving its relationship with Chinese joint-venture partners and localising its management teams by hiring and promoting more Chinese nationals and global talent with Chinese expertise, among other initiatives.
Chen said the new plans are intended to enable the company gain the momentum to break through in the marketplace.
It is on record that Ford has been struggling to revive sales in China, the second biggest market globally for the Dearborn, Michigan automaker, after its business began slumping in late 2017. Sales slumped 37 percent in 2018, after a 6 percent decline in 2017.
Ford has said its sales crisis stemmed mainly from a lack of new products. Industry experts also ascribe the company’s China trouble to the Sino-U.S. trade war and its rocky relationship with domestic partners Changan Automobile Group and Jiangling Motors Group.
Posted By Oyedeyi Samson
