Ford’s third-quarter China sales rise 25% year-on-year to 164,352 vehicles

BEIJING (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co on Friday said its China sales rose 25% over July to September from the same period a year earlier to 164,352 vehicles, attributing the increase to product launches and a localisation strategy.

The result represents Ford’s second consecutive quarterly sales increase in the world’s biggest auto market following almost three years of decline.

The Dearborn, Michigan-based firm makes vehicles in China through joint ventures with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co Ltd and Jiangling Motors Corp Ltd .

On Monday, U.S. rival General Motors Co said its China sales grew 12% in July-September to 771,400 vehicles.

Overall vehicle sales in China grew 13% in September, 12% in August and 16% in July.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Christopher Cushing)