Ford reportedly might build a new car plant in northern China after its current three-way joint car assembly venture splits into two separate entities.
Its current JV with Mazda and Chongqing Changan has two plants – one in the western municipality of Chongqing and another in the eastern city of Nanjing.
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But Ford and Mazda are awaiting regulatory approval to split their venture into two 50-50 entities with Changan, respectively, Reuters reported, citing the 21st Century Business Herald.
The Nanjing plant, which makes the Mazda 2 and 3 and Ford’s Fiesta, will belong to Mazda after the split, the report said.
Ford, which wants to sell 1.5m vehicles a year in China and secure an 8% market share by 2015, is considering building a new plant, possibly in the city of Tianjin in the north, it said.
“Certainly we have ambitious plans to continue to grow China, the world’s largest automotive market, just as we do for the rest of the growing markets in our Asia Pacific and Africa region. We have nothing to announce at this time, however,” the Detroit automaker said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
Changan declined to comment.
