Lincoln has unveiled a "China first" strategy and is planning to roll out three locally produced models by 2021. It comes after a tough 2018 due to a chill in the country's automotive market and fluctuating tariffs amid trade tensions between China and the United States.

The first China-made model, an SUV, will start production later this year, said Mao Jingbo, president of Lincoln Asia-Pacific and Lincoln China, on Thursday in Beijing.

The production will be at Changan Ford, a joint venture between its parent company and China's Changan Auto in Southwest China's Chongqing.

According to Lincoln's website, it will launch one China-made model each year between 2019-21 as part of its efforts to deepen development in the country.

Lincoln had a hard time in China last year, over flagging car demand and extra tariffs on vehicles from the US because of trade tensions.

It managed, however, to secure a 2 percent growth year-on-year, with around 55,000 vehicles delivered to Chinese customers.

China's premium vehicle sales totaled 2.8 million last year, up around 8 percent from 2017. Many saw a faster growth rate.

Cadillac, a premium brand from the US as well, enjoyed 17 percent of growth year-on-year, with total sales exceeding 200,000.

"Our growth might not be worth mentioning compared with others, but it is precious for us. Even more precious in some sense than our whopping growth back in past years," said Mao, who described last year as fraught.

She said Lincoln coped with various challenges, finally made headway in the market and has now laid the foundation for its future development in the country.

"We realize that Lincoln's future lies in China, and that is why we propose the 'China First' strategy. It will be a major task for us in 2019, starting with the localized model. We hope to see some breakthrough in 2020," said Mao.

Besides localized models, Lincoln is enhancing its lineup with imports.

It launched the Nautilus SUV last week in Beijing, which features a number of Lincoln's latest technical features.

As the successor to the MKX, it has two engine options: a 2.7-liter twin turbo and a 2.0-liter single turbo.

Besides the Nautilus, Lincoln has four models on sale in China: the MKC sedan, the Continental sedan and two SUVs－the MKZ and the Navigator.

Later this year they are to be joined by the Aviator, a large plug-in hybrid SUV, which may help Lincoln to amass new energy vehicle credits from the government.

As a measure to boost new energy vehicle sales, China demands carmakers in China to amass such credits, which must account for 10 percent of their total credits in 2019 and 12 percent in 2020.

Lincoln first came to China in 2005 but left three years later without satisfying results.

It returned in 2014 and since then it has sold 160,000 vehicles in China through some 120 stores across 90 cities.