Ford signs contracts with China for more exports
 

BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. motor giants General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. signed 1.8 billion U.S. dollar contracts with China for more exports, Xinhua learnt from the two companies's Beijing branches on Tuesday.

According to the deals separately signed in Washington on Monday, GM will export 1 billion U.S. dollar worth of component kits, machinery, equipment and fully assembled vehicles including the luxury Cadillac brand to one of its Chinese partners, Shanghai General Motors, through 2010.

Ford will sell more than 30,000 North American-built vehicles and will supply transmission components and parts to its joint venture, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Co. Ltd. as of 2009, in a deal worth 800 million U.S. dollars.

The two contracts were signed on the eve of the fourth round of Sino-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), a biannual meeting aiming to discuss long-term strategic issues in bilateral trade relations.

China is gradually showing potential in its luxury car market with its rising car ownership, said G. Richard Wagoner, GM's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The new pact manifested GM's determination to keep its leading position in the Chinese market, he said.

The world's largest motor maker exported over 4.2 billion U.S. dollars worth of automobile products to China through its joint venture in the country over the past 11 years.

Ford China's CEO Robert J. Graziano said the export of North America-built vehicles is among steps to expand market share in China. The new models will diversify product mix in China to meet the varied needs by Chinese consumers, he said.

GM has a total of eight joint ventures in China and has been the leading foreign joint venture by sales in China since 2005.

Buick is GM's most popular brand in China, the world's second largest new car market.

Ford's Chinese sales rose 30 percent in 2007, and the Ford Focus was one of the 10 best-selling cars in the country.