AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)10/03 Report--

Ford released its latest sales report a few days ago. the company sold a total of 580251 vehicles in the three quarters, down 5.6 per cent from the same period a year earlier, compared with 609934 in the same period last year. Sales totaled 1.8 million vehicles from January to September this year, down 3.5 per cent from a year earlier.

According to Ford, the decline in sales in the third quarter was mainly due to the impact of the company's best-selling F-series pickup, especially as consumer demand for F-series pickups in the region was weakening, with sales falling 6% in the quarter.

Sales in the SUV and sedan markets also showed signs of decline, falling 10.5 per cent and 29.5 per cent respectively in the third quarter, with Ford-branded cars down 5.6 per cent and luxury brand Lincoln up 11.7 per cent. At the same time, the company's sales of trucks and vans increased by 8.8%, but still could not offset the decline in other markets.

Mark LaNeve, Ford's vice president of marketing, sales and service in the United States, said this year was a "transitional period" for Ford as its product line shifted from passenger cars to new or redesigned trucks, cross-border vehicles and SUV.

In the domestic market, Changan Ford's sales fell 35 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier, narrowing the decline of 67 per cent in the first half. In September, Changan Ford sold 25000 vehicles, up 45 per cent from the previous month, the best monthly sales of Changan Ford this year.

Thanks to Ford's recent plans, in August this year, Changan Ford simultaneously released three new cars, namely, the new Fox Active, the new Taurus and the new Ruijie ST/ST-Line. The new models are all equipped with Co-Pilot360 Zhihang driving assistance system, and Baidu's SYNC+ Zhihang infotainment system, in an effort to achieve the model that best understands Chinese consumers. Among them, Taurus has achieved positive growth compared with the same month.

In fact, due to the impact of the domestic market in recent years, Ford lost a total of US $1.1 billion in the Asia-Pacific region in 2018. According to 2018 data, Ford's global sales were 5.734 million, down 8.9% from the same period last year, and its net profit was US $3.677 billion, down 52.4% from the same period last year. Ford is beginning to realize the importance and complexity of the Chinese market, saying that products and services will be tailored to Chinese consumers.

It is planned to launch 18 new cars, including five new energy models, within three years. Accelerate the localization of new models of the Ford brand and Lincoln brand. The first Lincoln brand SUV model will be put into production in Changan Ford this year, and the new Ford explorers will also be domestically produced in 2020.

Changan Ford was founded in 2001 and has sold a total of 6 million products in 18 years. But it began to turn downward after reaching a sales peak of 957000 in 2016, with sales of 819000 vehicles for the whole of 2017, down 14% from a year earlier. Sales in 2018 were 378000, down 54.4% from a year earlier, and sales nearly halved.

It can be seen that Ford, as an early brand that entered the domestic market, in the face of the overall downturn of the domestic car market, coupled with the rise of independent brands, and other brands following the rapid replacement of the market, Ford is obviously slow to update its new products. In today's highly competitive market, Ford should reflect on how to make its performance pick up.

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