Ford Motor is stepping on the gas in China.docVIP

Ford Motor is stepping on the gas in China Ford Motor Co.， the second- largest U.S. automaker， has been on a roll in China with the soaring popularity of its vehicles. According to the latest data， the automaker sold 1，007，425 vehicles in the country during the first 11 months of 2014， up 20 percent from the same period a year earlier. “Topping the one million unit mark in car sales is a significant milestone for Ford Motor in China， which demonstrates the appeal of high-quality， safe， fuel-efficient and smart Ford vehicles to Chinese customers，” says John Lawler， Chairman and CEO of Ford Motor China. Besides， at the end of November of 2014， several new vehicle models were released through Ford Motor’s passenger-car joint venture Chang’an Ford Automobile Co.， Ltd. and its commercial-vehicle partner Jiangling Motors Corporation， Ltd. （JMC） to meet the needs of Chinese consumer. However， as a late entry to the world’s largest auto market dominated by big players such as General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG， Ford Motor still has a long way to go to achieve its ambition of being the top-selling car brand by 2020. Ford’s car sales in China are only about one-third of those of General Motors whose sales in the country reached 3 million vehicles in 2013. On Nov. 14， 2014， General Motors announced that it sold its 3 millionth vehicle in China in 2014， marking the second consecutive year that the big player has reached the milestone， a month earlier than 2013. Insiders believe Ford Motor’s first step to realizing its ambition should be to establish cooperation between Chang’an Ford and JMC and balance their development. All-out efforts for “1515 Strategy” In 2011， Ford Motor laid out a plan for its development in China， called as“1515 Strategy”， with a goal of beefing up its product lineups by 15 new vehicle models and 20 transmission models by 2015. With the 2015 deadline for the high-profile “1515 Strategy” looming， Ford Motor is making all-out efforts to achieve its goal.