For the first time, Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln luxury brand sold more vehicles in China than in the U.S., a milestone for a latecomer to the world’s largest vehicle market who has made the country a key pillar of growth.

The automaker late Thursday said Lincoln sold more than 91,000 vehicles in China in 2021, a 48 percent increase over 2020. Lincoln’s U.S. sales fell 18 percent last year to 86,929, its lowest annual mark since 2013.

Lincoln opened its first China dealerships in 2014, well behind much of its luxury competition. But the brand made a point to study Chinese customers and offer them a unique car-buying experience, called the Lincoln Way.

Lincoln hired Eight Inc., the firm that designed the original Apple stores, to craft warm, welcoming dealerships including tea rooms, waterfall displays and a heritage wall that showcased the brand’s history. Designers insisted on a small number of vehicles in the showroom, and placed those models on pedestals with special lighting.

Dealers were told to pamper customers and focus on the experience before they focused on the sale.

Key elements of that experience have been replicated in its U.S. showrooms.

Today, Lincoln sells more nameplates in China than the U.S.; it continues to sell the Continental sedan there after discontinuing it in the U.S., and is preparing to launch the Zephyr sedan this year in China.

Lincoln is working to localize production of most of its lineup instead of importing from the U.S.

Despite the growth, the brand has fallen short of global sales goals.

When Lincoln launched in China in 2014, then-CEO Mark Fields predicted it would sell 300,000 vehicles globally by 2020, although officials backed off that target in 2018.

Although the brand’s China volume now tops the U.S., Ford has no plans to make Lincoln a China-only brand.

“This is an iconic American brand, and a big part of the appeal in China is because it’s an iconic American brand,” Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s president of the Americas and International Markets Group, told Automotive News in June. “China is bringing great scale, but we have a very vibrant business in the U.S. and Canada and Mexico. Those markets are very important and will continue to be very important for us.”

Lincoln still trails the leaders — Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW — in China’s luxury market, as well as Cadillac and Volvo.

The market is also becoming more competitive as Tesla surges and Chinese automakers such as Great Wall and Geely introduce luxury brands.

Overall Ford Motor sold more than 624,000 vehicles in China in 2021, up 3.7 percent.

Fourth-quarter sales tallied 167,000, up nearly 12 percent over the previous quarter.

Ford started to build the Mustang Mach-E crossover there in October, and customers began taking delivery in December through 25 direct-to-consumer stores.

“Ford starts 2022 with strong momentum from the execution of our China 2.0 plans centered on a robust portfolio and electrification,” Anning Chen, CEO of Ford China, said in a statement. “The steady rollout of new vehicles – including the locally built Ford Mustang Mach-E, Ford Evos and Lincoln Zephyr – combined with the launch of Ford’s network of direct-to-customer battery electric vehicle stores positions us well for growth ahead.”