Ford Motor Co.'s passenger car joint venture, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Co., reported record annual sales of 315,791 units in 2009, up 55 percent year on year, boosted by the Focus and Fiesta, new variants of Ford S-MAX and 2010 Ford Mondeo.

Jiangling Motors Corporation, Ford Motor's commercial vehicle investment in China, reported 114,688 units sold. The Ford Transit led the high-end light commercial van sector in 2009 with 33,585 sales, up 22 percent.

"We continued to launch world-class Ford vehicles in China, further expanding our vehicle lineup to suit a wider range of China consumer tastes, requirements and lifestyles," said Robert Graziano in a statement.

Despite the sales rise in China, Ford Motor Co. reported a 15-percent sales slump in 2009 from the previous year.

Ford published the statement after U.S. auto giant General Motors (GM) Monday said sales in China rose 66.9 percent to 1.82 million units in 2009 from a year earlier.

China has been taking incentives to boost domestic car consumption in 2009. The incentives included a reduction in sales tax from 10 percent to 5 percent in 2009 for small fuel-efficient vehicles with engine capacities below 1.6 liters.