Ford, GM report mixed Q3 results in China as auto market continues COVID recovery

Crosstown rivals General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. reported mixed results in China in the third quarter as the world’s largest car market continued its recovery from COVID-related disruptions earlier this year.

GM and its joint ventures in China delivered nearly 630,000 vehicles in Q3 — up about 1% year-over-year as the Detroit automaker said it saw sales “steadily recovering” from the effects of COVID-related restrictions in the first half of the year.

Ford, meanwhile, sold more than 133,000 vehicles in China in the third quarter — down 11% from the same period last year, but up 12% over the second quarter. The Dearborn automaker said in a news release that “sales momentum strengthened with further lifting of pandemic-related restrictions.”

In the U.S., both Ford and GM’s sales were up in the third quarter — 16% and 24%, respectively.

GM said its third-quarter performance was driven by sales of new energy vehicles such as the Buick VELITE 6 BEV.

GM’s Cadillac brand delivered more than 56,000 vehicles in China in the three-month period, down from about 59,000 units a year ago. Cadillac started delivering its first all-electric model, the Lyriq, to customers in China in September.

The Buick brand had sales of about 185,000 units, up from 166,000 a year ago. Chevrolet had sales of more than 56,000 vehicles, up from 49,000 in the third quarter of last year.

And Wuling, a joint-venture partner of GM, reported deliveries of more than 321,000 vehicles in Q3, up from 309,000 last year.

In the July-September period, Ford launched four vehicles in China: the all-new Ford Explorer, as well as special edition Lincolns including the Lincoln Navigator One, the Navigator Presidential edition and Corsair Alaska. And the automaker noted that it established Ford Model e Technology as a dedicated unit focusing on the development of Ford’s electric-vehicle business in China.

Ford brand passenger vehicle sales of roughly 54,400 units were down 12% year-over-year but up 23% from the second quarter. Ford brand SUVs made up about 32,700 of those sales — and that segment was up compared to both the previous quarter and the same period last year.

Lincoln, Ford’s luxury brand, sold more than 23,800 vehicles in China in the third quarter. That’s flat compared with a year ago and up 31% over the second quarter. Ford noted that the Lincoln sales results also were driven by “strong” demand for SUVs, which made up 17,700 sales of Lincoln’s total.