Ford Sales in China in High Gear, GM Slumps

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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After trailing Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) in sales in China for the better part of a decade, it looks like Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) has edged past them in 2013. Reuters reported Monday that Ford and its local partners boosted sales in the world’s largest auto market last year by nearly 50% to more than 935,000 vehicles.

Ford also said it sold almost 99,000 cars and light trucks in the nation in December, a 35% gain over the same period of 2012.

Its line-up of new and revamped vehicles, including a redesign of the top-selling Ford Focus, helped the year-on-year boost in sales in China. The company introduced a couple of small sport-utility vehicles and added the redesigned Mondeo, which is marketed in North America as the Fusion.

Ford sales were also helped by the lingering effects of a territorial dispute between China and Japan over some islands, which led to protests and boycotts of Japanese products in China in 2012.

Toyota and its local partners reported selling more than 917,000 vehicles in China in 2013. That was 9.2% higher than in 2012. Honda sold almost 757,000 vehicles, a 26.4% gain year over year.

Ford still has a long way to go to catch up with the sales leaders in China — General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and Volkswagen. GM said it sold more than 2.7 million vehicles in 2013, a 7.3% increase year over year. However, it saw a 6.3% drop in sales in December, a slump across all its brands. Volkswagen is expected to have edged out GM by selling about 3 million vehicles in China in 2013. That would put it on top for the first time in nine years.

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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