Ford, which is marketing vehicles in China under the auspices of a joint venture with Changan Ford Mazda, which is a tie-up with Chongqing Changan Auto Co (000625.SZ) and Mazda Motor (7261.T), saw sales increase 54% over last year for the month of July.

So far the JV has seen sales total 123,474 for the first seven months of 2009. That’s a 21.5% increase over 2008.

The Ford Focus is selling particularly well. July was the fifth month in a row where the company sold over ten thousand of the fuel efficient Focus.

Joining the Focus in hot sales was the new compact Ford Fiesta. The Fiesta has been available in China since March and a total of 22,630 units have been purchased since then. Two other models that are selling well are the Mondeo and S-MAX. These two have risen 68 percent and 22 percent from a year earlier, respectively.

Ford is not the only American car company with rapidly increasing sales in China. Bankrupt rival General Motors posted a one year increase in sales of 77.7% in July, selling a total of 144,593.

“We’re not seeing pull-ahead sales as much as the market is telling us there’s a lot of pent-up demand out there,” Mark Fields, Ford’s president for the Americas, told Reuters. “We expect some (sales) growth in the third and fourth quarter. It won’t be huge growth, but growth nonetheless.”

Fields was giving a speech at an event held at Ford’s Chicago assembly plant. As he spoke, new Ford Tauras’ rolled off the assembly line. The company has big plans for the Taurus line, which was a sales leader in the 1990s.

Ford has been doing quite well thanks to the “Cash for Clunkers” program. The Ford Focus, one of the company’s fuel efficient models, lead all cars in sales in July.

Ford is the only American auto maker to avoid bankruptcy.

Today is the day that the Goverment launches the Cash For Clunkers program. This incentive initiative gives consumers up to $4,500.00 credit on the purchase of a new, more fuel efficient vehicle for trading in their old ‘clunker.’ In order to qualify for the credit, the vehicle being traded in must get 18 miles or less to the gallon and be less than 25 years old.

On top of the Cash For Clunkers program, many dealerships are also offering deep discounts in the way of rebates and other incentives to move inventory off of their lots.

If you want to take advantage of this opportunity to save some money and upgrade your vehicle, you better act fast. This program runs through November 1, 2009 or until the funds that have been allotted to the program run out…whichever comes first.

“We are seeing signs of increased production with our customers in North America. It’s still an extremely slow market, however … we’re looking forward to the future,” said Kathryn Blackwell, who is the spokeswoman for Continental AG’s North American tire headquarters in Fort Mill, S.C.

Even though the number of people buying cars is still low, the fact that folks are maintaining older vehicles could represent an uptick in parts sales.

Continental is hiring more than 300 workers, which will double the number of workers at the plant.

All told, Continental AG employs 133,000 workers in 33 countries.

One thing is certain, car sales jobs are always in demand, especially if the skills needed to sell cars are present. Any car salesman who knows their business will always get a rewarding job in the automotive industry. Salesman remain in demand because the auto industry depends on increasing sales for their continued growth. Sales jobs may or not pay a base salary but can end up being largely dependent on commissions. For people who rely on steady income, this could end up being a major drawback.

In today’s world, brand awareness and technological know how is very crucial when it comes to car salesman’s jobs. In most cases, an individual who starts his career as a car mechanic can end up being a good car salesman. Finding a job in the automotive industry as a car mechanic can make you a good car salesman. For the car dealers who wish to hire a new car salesman, the internet provides all information and websites where you can be able to research and select the best salesmen that you would like to deal with.

Finding a close by car job is also easier though, sometimes finding a career in automotive industry can also be a great opportunity for an individual to renew a sense of adventure, experience and challenge. For example, the Canadian automotive industry is very big and is capable of supplying car salesmen with astonishing perspectives from any art of the world. Here, a car salesman job in an automotive industry can be found in Canada’s two largest provinces. Car dealers who are seeking for a good car sales man in these two provinces find that there are many applicants rewarded on that particular field.

A good car salesman is able to get a better and a good job in the automotive industry most likely if he is experienced, highly motivated and mobile. When his needs are met accordingly, he will be then able to perform well in this industry. The automotive companies are very competitive and therefore even having a job in the automotive industry is highly competitive. A car salesman who is conscious will not hesitate to search for a better and a long lasting car salesman’s job.

Most of the car dealers spend their time looking for good car salesmen therefore, they are often ready to negotiate best commission, revenue and bonus packages which are based on the client satisfaction levels and trade volume of a car salesman. The motor trade employers and recruitment agencies may advertise the vacancies for the automotive jobs online; therefore it is easy to apply online using the online advertising partners after registration.

The candidate can easily apply for the job directly to the car dealer, automotive recruitment agency or to the automotive employer. After registration, an individual is able to receive the job alerts through e-mail or by use of advanced job search facility.

Fuji Heavy Industries recently announced they hoped to have their own hybrid vehicle available in 2012. Toyota will be providing technology support for the car.

Ikuo Mori, president and chief executive at Fuji Heavy said, “We will take advantage of our alliance with Toyota.”

Toyota is currently the biggest player in the hybrid arena, holding about an 80% market share for hybrids sold in the United States. Their biggest seller is the Toyota Prius and the , a car that uses both gasoline and battery power to fuel the engine. The 2010 model has optional solar power available. The Prius has an estimated gas mileage of 51 MPG for highway driving and 48 MPG for city driving.

There are three main advantages to owning a hybrid car.

1. Fuel efficiency. Since a hybrid vehicle uses a combination of a traditional gas engine along with an electric one, fuel efficiency goes up. Electric energy will fuel your car for part of your trips, conserving gas. This will result in a much lower day to day bill for gas.
2. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Since you’re burning less fossil fuels, your car will pollute much less and be much kinder to the environment than a conventional auto. If many people were to switch to hybrid vehicles, the reduction of greenhouse gas would be significant.
3. Total cost of ownership. When you consider the possibility of getting a tax credit for purchasing a hybrid vehicle, along with the reduced payments you’ll be making for gas, you can see how a hybrid vehicle might cost you much less than owning a conventional gas engine car.

Hybrid cars are starting to catch on with car buyers in the industrialized world. Almost all major auto manufacturers now offer a hybrid vehicle, and for the first time a real race is occurring to see who can build the world’s most fuel efficient hybrid vehicle at the most affordable price.

If you’re considering purchasing a hybrid vehicle, you may want to act fast. The government is phasing out the hyvrid car tax credit on popular models, since the success of hybrids seems assured. They initially offered the incentives as a way to get people to start buying hybrids, but now that the market is growing, they’re backing off.

The success of hybrid cars is likely to continue. People are becoming more environmentally conscious, plus gas prices have tended to stay high for the last few years, which makes people consider alternatives. Add in the fact that hybrids are becoming much more stylish and feature-rich, and you’ll quickly see that hybrid vehicles are here to stay.

“This is truly a significant accomplishment for us,” said Ford’s group vice president of global quality, Bennie Fowler. “Honda and Toyota have claimed bragging rights for years, but now we are seeing our hard work pay off. It’s evident in study after study.”

The results from the 2009 U.S. Global Quality Research System (GQRS). The survey is conducted each quarter for Ford by RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

The latest survey also shows Ford finished 2 percent higher in customer satisfaction than in prior years.

“The Energy Policy Act of 2005 replaced the clean-fuel burning deduction with a tax credit. A tax credit is subtracted directly from the total amount of federal tax owed, thus reducing or even eliminating the taxpayer’s tax obligation. The tax credit for hybrid vehicles applies to vehicles purchased or placed in service on or after January 1, 2006.”

The credit is available to the original car purchaser, and is based on a scale that’s derived from the make and model. Here’s the schedule for 2009. As you can see, the tax break ranges from $1.950 to $3,000, depending on the vehicle selected.

In certain cases, the tax break can mean it’s advantageous to upgrade to a hybrid vehicle. The main key is to consider a concept known as “Total Cost of Ownership.” When you add up the payments, minus any tax breaks, and then calculate the fuel costs/savings, you can roughly surmise whether purchasing a hybrid vehicle makes sense for you.

If you plan on getting a hybrid car tax credit, you’ll need to act fast. The government is phasing out these credits as American consumers start to adopt hybrid vehicles on a wider basis.

The success of certain vehicles is the reason the tax credits are being phased out. Take, for instance, how well Ford has done selling hybrids. They’ve done such a good job that the tax credit for their hybrid vehicles is being halved, before being eliminated completely.

“According to the IRS, Ford has sold 66,000 of its hybrids — mostly the less efficient Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs — while GM has sold half that. The law that created the tax credit presumes that any carmaker selling more than 60,000 hybrids no longer needs a tax credit to persuade buyers to purchase one.”

The tax credit on purchasing a Ford hybrid vehicle will be halved, from $3,400 to $1,700, before being shelved permanently.

The bright side should be somewhat obvious. Since these cars are selling better, chances are prices will become much lower. That means the government shouldn’t need to subsidize hybrids as they become more mainstream. It looks like the government program has worked, and now sales volume of certain hybrid cars is sufficient.

The term “hybrid car” is bandied about so much these days that’s important to take a look at the meaning. Conventional cars run on gasoline engines. Hybrid vehicles have both a conventional gas engine combined with an electric engine. Hybrid vehicles have gotten a bad rap in recent years due to generally shoddy design and smaller bodies. This appears to be changing as more hybrid vehicles hit the market.

The basics behind how hybrid vehicles work are relatively simple. At certain points when driving (for example on long highway segments) the electric engine kicks in and the conventional engine is given a rest. This means you’ll spend less for gas as you’re using electric. Plus, the miles where you aren’t burning fossil fuels are much cleaner for the environment.

The advantages of hybrid vehicles are less cost for gas in a year, and a much lower carbon footprint, which is good for the environment. Hybrid cars are a huge part of all major auto maker’s plans in the next few years as climate change and fuel efficiency have become pressing issues to most drivers.