Shanghai (ZXZC)- Chongqing Changan Automobile Co.,Ltd (Changan Automobile) announced a year-on-year drop of 26.9% in March sales. For the first three months of the year, the automaker saw its cumulative sales tumble 31.8% year on year to 448,811 units.

Compared with the performance in February, all subsidiaries got their sales picked up evidently. However, compared to the sales period a year ago, none of them realized positive growth. Especially, Changan Ford, selling 15,265 cars in March, suffered a plunge of 66.2%. During the first quarter, it sold 36,800 vehicles in total, a year-on-year nosedive of 71.8%.

Sales at the Ford's major joint venture were more than halved last year. To boost the performance in the world's largest auto market, Ford Motor launched the “Ford China 2.0” strategy earlier this month, planning to roll out over 30 new Ford- and Lincoln-branded models in China over the next three years, including more than 10 NEV models, and will strengthen the R&D in autonomous driving.

According to the latest sales report, Changan Automobile year-to-date NEV sales reached 11,853 units, among which 5,411 units were sold in March.

On January 30, the Chongqing-based automaker released a review of its annual performance in 2018 with an expected net profit of RMB500 million to RMB750 million attributable to shareholders of the listed company, a year-on-year slump of 89.49% to 92.99%.