Ford Motor's China Chief Quits, Citing Personal Reasons
January 28 2018 - 11:55PM
Dow Jones News
By Trefor Moss
SHANGHAI--The head of Ford Motor Co. in China resigned Monday
after less than six months on the job, compounding the U.S. auto
maker's challenges as it tries to rev up flagging sales in the
world's largest car market.
Jason Luo quit "for personal reasons" and his departure "was not
related to the business strategy or performance of Ford China,"
Ford's Asia-Pacific President Peter Fleet said in a statement. No
replacement was immediately named.
Mr. Luo joined Ford in August and was tasked with reversing a
decline in sales. Ford sold 1.19 million vehicles in China in 2017,
down 6% from a year earlier, though China's auto market as a whole
grew 3%. U.S. rival General Motors Co. increased its China sales by
4.4% last year. Mr. Luo couldn't immediately be reached for
comment.
Ford rebooted its China strategy in December, pledging to launch
50 new models in the country by 2025, including 15 electric
vehicles. At the time, Mr. Luo said he was focused on making Ford a
"more efficient organization" and wanted to refresh the company's
product lineup to win back customers. He also cautioned that the
new strategy was unlikely to bear fruit until 2019.
The U.S. auto maker also announced a tie-up with e-commerce
giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. through which Ford aims to sell
more cars online and use the e-commerce company's car operating
system in some of its Chinese models.
Mr. Luo was previously the chief executive of Michigan-based
auto safety equipment company Key Safety Systems Inc., which is
owned by Chinese auto-parts supplier Ningbo Joyson Electronic
Corp.
His appointment last year drew praise from auto analysts who
said foreign manufacturers should hire more Chinese executives with
a better understanding of the country's fast-moving sector.
Write to Trefor Moss at Trefor.Moss@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 29, 2018 00:40 ET (05:40 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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