In the pursuit of global sales success, several markets are key. The American market is the second-largest in the world and is always a major focus, but for those wanting to branch out, China is a massive target. It's why the likes of Buick will launch special models in the market when others miss out. But in the wake of the global pandemic weakening car sales across the globe, there's good news for one American automaker.

Ford has, for the first time in three years, posted a growth in quarterly sales in the largest market in the world, and it hasn't even launched the all-electric Mustang Mach-E yet, which is expected to be a big seller when it does go on sale.

The increase was marginal for the brand, but year on year sales increased by 3%. This is a massive departure from the shrinking of sales by 37% in 2018 and 26% in 2019, with things previously looking very bad for the Blue Oval. It was believed that sales previously were hurt by a number of factors, including an aging product lineup and previous transgressions by management teams that ruined the relationships with dealers and joint venture partners.

Those issues have been seemingly put to bed with the brand's strong lineup of SUVs and crossovers, as well as locally-made Lincoln products bolstering sales in the second quarter. These figures don't account for models that have yet to launch, though, and with the Mustang Mach-E electric SUV in the pipeline, China will be a key market going forward.

But it hasn't been good news for all American automakers in China. While Ford has done well, General Motors has seen a drop of 5.3%, selling just 713,600 units. This is in contrast to a growing market and strong demand following the end of lockdown regulations which saw the market as a whole grow by 4.4% in April and 14.5% in May, with June growth expected to be more than 10%.

Ford may have seen growth in China, but back at home things have been a little bleaker. This past quarter has seen a drop of 33% for the manufacturer, and even dealers offering deals like covering your rent if you buy a new car couldn't help the cause enough.