Last year was yet another disappointment for US automaker such as GM and Ford as vehicle sales growth in China continue to falter. The US automotive manufacturers' decreasing sales numbers in the country were somewhat expected amid a general slump in China's overall auto sector.
GM and Ford's sales in China were also greatly affected by the entry of local competitors and newcomers such as Tesla Motors. For 2019, GM sold around 3.09 million vehicles in China. This represented a 15 percent decline when compared to the company's sales in the previous year. GM sold a total of 3.65 million vehicles in 2018 and 4.04 million vehicles in 2017.
Ford managed to fare a little better than it rival, with Chinese sales dropping by 3.2 percent to 2.41 million vehicles. Similar to GM, Ford blamed its dropping sales on the country's weakening economy and heavy competition in its key product lines.
While both GM and Ford struggle to retain their market share in China, newcomers such as Tesla are expected to make waves in the coming years. Tesla's rapid expansion in China, kicked off by the establishment of its new Shanghai Gigafactory, is expected to make matters even worse for the two American car manufacturers.
To fight against new competitors such as Telsa, GM stated that it is still on track to introduce 10 new fully electric models in the Chinese market. Ford has also begun rolling out new fully electric models in an effort to catch up with the rapid shift into new energy products.
GM executive vice-president and the president of GM China, Matt Tsien, mentioned in a statement that the company aims to have a growth in overall sales this year through the implementation of various strategies.
These strategies include the bolstering of the company's product lineup in China and the application of new measures to improve overall operational efficiency. Tsien, however, clarified that they are still expecting continued headwinds and a continued market downturn for 2020.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers agrees with the executive's assessment as it does expect a contraction of around 2 percent in the country's auto market this year. The association predicts that 2020 could become the third consecutive year of sales decline, mainly due to factors such as the ongoing trade dispute between China and the United States and the still-recovering Chinese economy.
Overall car sales in China for 2019 are expected to be lower by about 8 percent when compared to the 28 million units sold in 2018. The association is expected to reveal the exact 2019 car sale numbers in the coming weeks.
