Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 9) - Ford sold 30,976 vehicles in January, Gasgoo.com (Chinese) reported, quoting recently available statistics. The amount was 42 percent lower than what Ford sold in January of 2011.

Ford blames the low sales figures on the low number of working days in January due to holidays for New Year and Spring Festival, as well as near empty inventories carried over from December. That month, Ford sold approximately 50,000 vehicles. Its Chinese joint venture, Changan Ford Mazda, managed to sell 18,324 Fords in January, representing a year-on-year fall of 43 percent. Automobile sales from Ford's other joint venture with Jiangling Motors also fell.

In other news, Ford and Changan Ford Mazda will officially begin using their new production site in Chongqing this quarter. The new site's first production project will reportedly be the new generation Ford Focus (pictured). The Chongqing site should aid Ford in increasing its production capacity in the country and help the manufacturer meet ever-increasing demand for its products.

519,390 Fords were sold in 2011, seven percent more than the previous year.