Ford Motor Co. will help turn around its money-losing Chinese operations “a lot” once it begins building Lincoln models there later this year and the Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle next year, the company’s chief financial officer said Wednesday. Material costs are lower in China, labor is lower in China, Ford can be closer to the market in terms of consumer demand. The automaker has struggled with an aging product line in China, losing $128 million there in the first quarter as sales plunged by 36%. Reversing its slide in the world’s largest auto market is key to Chief Executive Officer Jim Hackett’s $11 billion restructuring of the company. Lincoln has been the lone bright spot for Ford in the market, where it sold a record 55,315 of its luxury models last year, as sales of the jumbo Navigator SUV soared 84%. Lincoln has grown briskly despite importing its vehicles and paying hefty tariffs on them. To avoid that, Ford will begin building the Lincoln Corsair small SUV in China late this year and will eventually build all its models there, except the Navigator. Local production would avoid the new tariffs, but automakers with plants there could still face retaliation from the government or a stiff arm from consumers if Chinese-American relations get worse.
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