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According to the China Automobile Association, the market share of American passenger cars was 9.6% in 2020, up 0.7% from 8.9% in 2019. The improvement of American market share is not only related to Tesla's strong market performance, but also related to Ford.

According to data released by Ford, Ford Motor (including Ford, Lincoln and Jiangling) sold 602600 vehicles in China in 2020, an increase of 6.1% over the same period last year, the first time the company has achieved sales growth since 2017.

Ford China is composed of Changan Ford, Ford brand imported cars, Jiangling Motor, Lincoln brand and other businesses. Among them, Jiangling Motor accounted for the largest proportion of sales. Jiangling brand commercial vehicles sold 215000 units in the whole year, up 13% from the same period last year. Jiangling and Ford brand commercial vehicles sold a total of 271200 vehicles, up 15.4% from the same period last year.

However, Changan Ford is Ford's fastest growing business in China. According to the data disclosed by Changan Automobile, the cumulative sales of Changan Ford in 2020 was 253300, an increase of 37.67% over the same period last year, mainly due to the output of Ruiji, Ruijie, explorers and other models. As for Jiangling Ford passenger cars, the only products on sale are Road Shaker and leading (including EV), with low overall sales. Therefore, Ford mainly develops commercial vehicles in Jiangling Automobile and passenger cars in Changan Automobile.

High-end brand Lincoln sold 61800 vehicles in 2020, up 32.5% from the same period last year. The reason for the increase in Lincoln brand sales is mainly due to the launch of new domestic cars made by adventurers and pilots, which were launched in March 2020 and July 2020 respectively. After the launch, they were once popular, changing the situation that Lincoln brand sales continued to decline in China, even under the influence of the epidemic and the market. It is understood that Lincoln brand third domestic new car navigator will be officially launched in February this year, after the listing is expected to become another best-selling Lincoln model, helping Lincoln sales growth.

Looking back on the development of Ford Motor in China. After Ford's sales in central China reached 1.27 million in 2016, the highest since entering China, Ford's performance in the Chinese market has been at a low ebb, falling for three consecutive years since 2017, and did not grow smoothly until this year. As for Ford's continued decline in sales in China, in addition to slow product updates, it is mainly affected by the three-cylinder strategy.

Both General Motors and Ford seem to have inexplicable confidence in the three-cylinder engine, which has led to a continued decline in sales due to the use of three-cylinder engines in several best-selling models. GM panicked, adding four-cylinder models while implementing the three-cylinder strategy in 2020, and sales have continued to grow since then, with the Buick brand growing by 6.3% in 2020.

Compared with General Motors, Ford's attitude towards the three-cylinder engine appears to be more firm, and it is called the "three-cylinder king" by consumers, directly replacing the three-cylinder engine for the main models such as Fox and Forrest. Although Ford's three-cylinder engine has a good performance in terms of power and fuel consumption, domestic consumers are obviously resistant to the three-cylinder model, resulting in a continuous decline in sales.

According to the latest information from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the new Forrest will continue to carry a three-cylinder engine, although it has been adjusted in appearance, but with reference to its current market performance and consumer attitude towards the three-cylinder engine, it is not difficult to predict its sales performance after listing.

As the two major brands of Ford and Lincoln accelerate product upgrading and the introduction of models, the Ford brand is expected to maintain growth. According to the Ford China Product 330 Plan, Ford China will launch more than 30 new models in the Chinese market in the next three years, covering Ford and Lincoln brands, as well as 10 new energy models. Changan Lincoln navigator will be officially listed in February.

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