Ford to Start Selling Chinese-Made Cars on Other Markets?

American carmaker Ford could use the high production capacity in China to sell cars made on other markets as well, sources familiar with the matter revealed. It's yet unclear but it seems like Ford intends to bring Chinese vehicles into two emerging markets, thus taking advantage of the growing auto sector while keeping production costs to a minimum.

Ford on the other hand denied the possibility to export Chinese-built models and emphasized that what's being made in China will remain in China for the time being and the vehicles assembled there, Fiesta, Mondeo, Focus and C-MAX, each built with Changan and Mazda, are exclusively addressed to the local market.

"Ford and Changan are exploring ways to expand their partnership. Export of China-made models is only one of the possible options," one person familiar with the matter was quoted as saying to Reuters by just-auto.com.

"We are building high quality, fuel efficient, fun-to-drive vehicles in China, for China, and have no plans to export vehicles from China," Trevor Hale, a China-based spokesman for Ford's Asia Pacific and Africa operations, said in a statement.

Industry analysts on the other hand suggest that exporting Chinese made vehicles could make sense in the context of the declining markets, so we shouldn't be surprised if Ford actually decides to launch some of the models it builds in China into other emerging countries, such as India.

"China remains the main focus for foreign automakers. But export deals would serve as an additional income source at a time when the market is slowing down," Boni Sa, an analyst with IHS Automotive, explained.