Sales of Ford-branded vehicles produced in China more than doubled in 2006.

The ChangAn, Ford and Mazda Auto Co. Ltd., affiliated to the ChangAn Auto Group based in southwest China's Chongqing City, announced sales of 131,079 autos with the Ford brand last year, up 108.3 percent year on year.

The growth far exceeded the average for China's auto industry, according to ChangAn Group, which has established joint ventures with international auto leaders including Ford, Mazda and Suzuki.

ChangAn attributed the rise mainly to the good market performance of the Focus and Mondeo models. In 2006, ChangAn sold 78,430 Ford Focus cars, much higher than expectations.

ChangAn will start to produce M-MAX autos of the Ford family and restart the sales of the Mazda 3 in 2007.

Analysts estimate China produced and sold more than seven million autos in 2006, overtaking Germany as the world's third largest producer.

Source: Xinhua