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New models give a boost to Ford sales

Ford Motor Co sold 296,825 cars in China in the first quarter of 2015, 9 percent up from the 271,321 units it sold in same period last year, the company said.

Changan Ford, the company's joint venture with China's Chang'an Group, sold 218,487 cars in China in the first quarter of 2015, 12 percent up year-on-year, according to the company.

Ford said the main reason behind its sales growth was its two new models - the Mondeo and Escort.

BMW recalls 26,418 cars

BMW China Automotive Trading Ltd and BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd will recall 26,418 BMW vehicles on the Chinese mainland since July 8, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

The vehicles affected by the recall include six locally made BMW 3 Series models, which were made between Oct 26, 2013 and Mar 28, 2014, and 21 different models of imported BMW vehicles, which were manufactured from June 14, 2012 to March 17, 2014.

Alibaba sets up an auto department

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group established an automobile business department on April 8.

The department integrates the group's big data marketing, auto financial business and a platform for 60 million car owners to offer a one-stop online-to-offline service to customers.

Alibaba said it worked with more than 40 automakers including BMW, Volkswagen, Buick, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, Chery and Geely.

The group said it shares partnership of almost 10,000 4S stores and 20,000 auto after-sales companies.

Motoring

(China Daily 04/13/2015 page19)