Ford, BMW Report Strong Sales in China in August

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) said today that strong demand for the Ford Focus helped drive sales in China in August higher. Ford and its joint ventures in China sold 48,631 vehicles in the People’s Republic in August, which was up 39% from a year ago.

In a separate report, BMW said that its sales in China in August rose by more than 37% year-over-year to 25,377 vehicles. That was a new monthly sales record for the world’s bestselling luxury-car maker.

In the January-August period, Chinese sales by Ford and its partners rose 8% to 368,513 units. BMW’s sales in China were up 31% on the year in the first eight months to 207,425 cars.

Ford also said that it will continue aggressive expansion in China. By 2015, it plans to introduce 15 new vehicles in the country and it plans to double its production capacity to 1.2 million vehicles.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) said today it aims to sell up to 1.8 million cars annually in China by 2015, compared to 900,000 cars it sold in the world’s biggest auto market last year. The Japanese car maker posted its second-consecutive monthly fall in China sales in August.