Ford sells record 1.1M vehicles in China in 2015

NEW YORK — Ford reported record sales of about 1.1 million vehicles in China last year.

The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker said Friday that its 2015 sales in the country were up 3 percent from the previous year.

It also set a new monthly sales record in December, selling 124,768 vehicles. That’s up 27 percent from the prior-year period.

Ford Motor Co.’s passenger car joint venture, Changan Ford Automobile, broke its annual and December sales records. For 2015, the joint venture sold 836,425 vehicles. It’s a 7 percent rise from 2014. It sold 96,960 vehicles in December, a 49 percent jump from the year-ago period.

Demand for its new Mondeo gave a boost to Changan’s annual and December sales performances, the company said.

Annual sales of sport utility vehicles like the Ecosport, Kuga, Edge, Explorer and Everest rose 13 percent to 274,188 vehicles. December sales of SUVs surged 56 percent to 32,290 vehicles.

Jiangling Motors Corp., Ford’s commercial vehicle investment in China, reported a 6 percent decline in annual sales and a 12 percent drop in December sales.

On Tuesday when U.S. auto sales were reported, Ford came in as the best-selling individual brand for the sixth straight year, with sales of just over 2.5 million. The company sold 780,354 F-Series trucks in the U.S. in 2015 — more than one every minute — making it the nation’s top-selling vehicle.