Sept. 29 – Ford Motor Co. is counting on the emerging Asian market to compensate for the slump in Western markets with a third Chinese car plant set to be build in Chongqing, China.
The new plant will cost US$490 million and will manufacture an improved version of the Ford Focus by 2012. The plant will have an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles yearly thus raising Ford’s car capacity in China to 600,000.
Car manufacturers are shifting its focus to the Asian market by aggressively opening new plants and introducing smaller, more affordable cars. Beijing forecasts that vehicle sales will rise by 28 percent this year with the government’s huge stimulus plan in place.
“Ford knows it needs to catch up with GM and Volkswagen” in China, said Chen Liang, an analyst at Huatai Securities Co. told Bloomberg. “China is a bright spot for many global automakers because demand has been strong.”
Ford currently has a plant in Chongqing that produces 267,000 vehicles a year and another one in Nanjing with a capacity of 180,000. The factories in partnership with Chongqing Changan Automobile and Mazda Motor manufactures vehicles for the U.S.-based Ford and Japan-based Mazda. Ford vehicles sales rose by 144,601 during the first eight months of the year.
