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[Reuters] Ford downgrades outlook for China car market growth -exec
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[600104.SS DAIGn.DE VOWG_p.DE 7201.T GM.N 7203.T F.N 000625.SZ]
BEIJING, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Ford Motor <F.N> has
downgraded<br>its
growth projection for China's car market this year, to about<br>five
percent, after Beijing stripped away most of its policy<br>incentives,
a senior executive said on Monday.<br>"What we said going into the
year was that we thought China<br>would grow 5 to 10 percent. We said
that back in December and in<br>fact it's quite closer to 5
percent,"
Joe Hinrichs, president of<br>Ford's Asia and Africa operations, told
reporters in Beijing.<br>Sales of passenger cars might pick up a
little in the fourth<br>quarter as typically happens in China, but
full-year growth<br>would still be around the 5-6 percent range, said
Hinrichs.<br>Hinrichs did not offer a projection of Ford's own
sales<br>growth
for the year, but its sales fell 7.2 percent in the first<br>eight
months, largely due to weak demand in the commercial<br>vehicle
segment, while the overall market grew 3.3 percent.<br>China's overall
vehicle market sizzled in 2010 with 18<br>million units sold. But it
has now reverted to a more subdued<br>growth pattern after the
government ended tax incentives for<br>small car sales and subsidies
for van buyers in rural areas.<br>From January to August, passenger
car sales climbed merely 6<br>percent, after jumping 33 percent and 52
percent, respectively,<br>in 2010 and 2011. Commercial vehicle sales
were hit especially<br>hard, with sales down 4.8 percent.<br>Ford
makes Focus, Mondeo, X-Max and Fiesta models in China<br>in
partnership with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co
<000625.47><br>and
Mazda Motor <7261.T>. Ford lags General Motors <GM.N>
and<br>Volkswagen
AG <VOWG.DE> which came to the country earlier.<br>In April,
Ford unveiled an aggressive plan to bring 15 new<br>vehicles, double
its dealerships from 340 and add 1,200 new jobs<br>in China by 2015.
[ID:nL3E7FF0D0]<br>That, according to Will Periam, strategy director
for Ford's<br>Asia Pacific and Africa operations, would enable the
company to<br>compete in about 50 percent of the overall market
segments in<br>China, up sharply from 22 percent currently.
[ID:nL4E7K303T]<br>Some of the new models, including the upgraded
Focus, will<br>go into production from 2012 at a $490 million new
factory in<br>the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing.<br>Ford and
Hyundai Motor <005380.KS> are the only major global<br>auto
makers that do not have a luxury brand among their<br>offerings in
China.<br>There is no timetable for Ford to bring its Lincoln model
to<br>China
while its current focus is to revitalise the vintage brand<br>in the
United States, said its chief executive, Alan Mulally.<br>There is
also no specific plan for China sales of its<br>plug-in hybrid
crossover vehicle C-MAX Energi, which it will<br>roll out in Canada
and the U.S. in the first half of next year,<br>Mulally said during a
visit to China to break ground for the<br>automaker's $350 new
transmission plant.<br>Beijing has declared the electric vehicle
industry a top<br>priority, earmarking $1.5 billion a year for the
next 10 years<br>to transform the country into one of the leading
producers of<br>clean vehicles.<br>But customers so far remain
unimpressed by the high cost,<br>limited range and lack of charging
infrastructure for the<br>vehicles.<br>Still, Nissan Motor
<7201.T> is
committed to selling its<br>locally made electric Venucia in China in
2015, joining the<br>likes of GM, Volkswagen and Daimler
<DAIGn.DE> to
explore<br>alternative energy opportunities in the
country.<br><br>(Reporting
by Fang Yan and Ken Wills)<br>((
[email protected])(86 10
6627 1233)(Reuters<br>Messaging:
[email protected]))<br><br>Keywords:
FORD CHINA/
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