Ford's March China vehicle sales down 11 percent

BEIJING (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co's sales in China fell 11 percent in March from a year earlier to 83,666 vehicles, as its business in the world's biggest auto market remains hampered by a dearth of fresh products.

The company, whose sales fell a sharp 30 percent in February, said on Friday its sales in the first three months of this year totaled 207,139 vehicles, down 19 percent from a year earlier.

The big decline in February volume was due in part to fewer working days in the month because of a late Chinese lunar new year holiday, but Ford's first-quarter numbers reveal the continued difficulty facing the Michigan-based automaker.

 

Company officials have said Ford's business in China this year will remain pressured by a dearth of new or significantly redesigned cars models in its product lineup - a situation they indicated should last through the end of 2018 or through early 2019.

(Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Sunil Nair)