Changan Ford Automobile Co. Ltd., a joint venture between China's Changan Automobile and American automaker Ford, plans to launch 18 new automobile models by the end of 2021, including 5 new energy vehicles in the Chinese market.

Since its establishment in Chongqing in 2001, Changan Ford has produced more than 6.5 million vehicles with an output value of more than 800 billion yuan (112 billion U.S. dollars), and its annual sales were once close to 1 million vehicles. Changan Ford, however, ended the trend of continuous growth in 2017, with annual sales of 819,000 vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 14 percent. Sales in 2018 were only 378,000 units, down 54.4 precent from a year earlier.

Experts said the sales downturn of Changan Ford is partly due to a lack of new models from 2016 to 2018.

To tackle the downturn, Ford Motor said it will accelerate the localization of new models of Ford and Ford luxury brand Lincoln. The first Lincoln SUV model will be put into production in Changan Ford this year, and the new Ford explorer model will also be made in China in 2020.