Ford China sales up 73.3 percent in Q1

Ford Motor Co. sold 153,822 new vehicles in the Greater China area in the first quarter of this year, up 73.3 percent year on year and the fourth consecutive quarter growth in the region, the Detroit News reported on Thursday.

To be specific, Ford SUV sales totaled more than 34,000, up 103.4 percent, and Lincoln vehicle sales rose 217 percent to more than 19,300 units.

Locally-built Lincoln Corsair and Aviator accounted for three-quarters of overall Lincoln sales in the quarter. And the Lincoln Nautilus, which was just launched in the first quarter, sold about 1,700 units and generated more than 4,000 orders.

Commercial vehicle sales were also up.

Ford will launch its battery-electric Mustang Mach-E in China later this year. The vehicle will be assembled in China for customers in the region.

Last week, the U.S. automaker announced that it sold 521,334 vehicles in the United States in the first quarter of 2021, up 1 percent year on year.