On May 5, Ford announced its sales data for January to April 2016 in China: The brand's total sales in China reached 391,000 units in April, up 7% from the same period of last year; April sales were 82,000 units, up from the same period last year. Declined by 11%.

April sales: All companies fell

Ford Motor's passenger vehicle joint venture Changan Ford sold 59,000 vehicles in April, a sharp drop of 11% year-on-year. However, the cumulative sales of Changan Ford in the first four months of this year reached 303,000 units, an increase of 14% over the same period of last year.

With one-third of the total in 2016, Changan Ford has completed 30.3% of its target sales of 1 million units for the whole year, and it still has hopes of impacting its annual sales target.

At the same time, the cumulative sales volume of Jiangling Motors, a commercial vehicle investment company for Ford Motor Co., in China from January to April 2016, was 82,000 units, a 10% drop from the same period in 2015. The sales volume in the first four months of 2016 was 22,000 units, down 7% year-on-year.

Reason for sales decline: production line reconstruction

In the first quarter of this year, Ford’s sales in China increased by 14% year-on-year, but sales growth in the first four months dropped to 7%.

Why did Ford's sales in China suddenly drop in April, given the favorable sales growth in the first three months?

Ford China stated that in order to better meet the growing market demand, Changan Ford's Chongqing plant will carry out production line maintenance and maintenance in the second quarter of this year, and production of the Ford Maverick, Fox and Mondeo will be affected in the short term. This information has been reflected in Ford’s first-quarter financial report released on April 28.

U.S. gains better: increase in pickup + SUV contribution

In April of this year, Ford sold 231,000 vehicles in the United States, which was a year-on-year increase of 4%. In the first four months, cumulative US sales reached 877,000 units, an increase of 7.3% year-on-year.

Among its two brands, Ford’s US sales in April rose 3.3% year-on-year to 222,000 units. The cumulative sales in the first four months increased by 6.9% to 844.2 units; the sales in Lincoln increased by 20.2% year-on-year to 9,776 units in April. Sales volume in the four months increased by 17.1% year-on-year to 35,000 vehicles.

Judging from the model category, Ford’s sales of cars in the United States fell by 12% year-on-year to 63,000 units in April; SUVs increased by 7.7% year-on-year to 72,000 vehicles; pickup trucks rose by 14.8% year-on-year to 96,000 vehicles.

In the first four months, the cumulative sales of Ford sedan decreased by 2.4% year-on-year to 255,000 units; SUV sales rose 13.5% year-on-year to 277,000 units; pickup sales rose 10.6% year-on-year to 344,000 vehicles.