Ford China raced to a record first half, with 549,256 vehicles sold in the first six months of 2014, up 35 percent compared to 407,474 sold during the same period last year.

Ford announced the opening of its new Ford Technical Support Center in Concord, N.C. today. The state-of-the-art facility will add an array of tools to develop future performance vehicles and help increase Ford’s overall success in motorsports.

Ford China sold 96,829 wholesale vehicles last month, up 29 percent from the 75,315 sold in April 2013. Strong April performance pushed year-to-date sales up to 368,150 vehicles, an increase of 41 percent from 261,859 during the same period last year.

Ford China goes into the Beijing Auto Show with record monthly sales of 103,815 vehicles, a 28 percent increase over March 2013, crossing the 100,000 monthly sales mark for the first time.

Ford China sold 935,813 wholesale vehicles in 2013, a 49 percent increase from 626,616 vehicles in 2012. December sales were also strong, with 94,838 vehicles sold in 2013, up 35 percent from 70,510 vehicles sold in December 2012.