Chongqing Changan Automobile is in talks with JV partner Ford to produce a mid-sized car in China using Ford technology but carrying a Changan brand, as they move to take their partnership to a new level, two sources have said.
Changan so far has made Focus, Mondeo, Fiesta and other Ford models in a three-way tie-up with Ford and Mazda Motor but does not build own-brand cars.
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The initiative, if it goes ahead, would mark a breakthrough in their partnership and pave the way for more, mutually beneficial deals in the years to come, sources told Reuters.
“Ford CEO Alan Mulally met Changan chairman Xu Liuping during his trip to China in March. They had in-depth talks on ways to bring their cooperation to the next level,” one source with direct knowledge of the matter told the news agency.
One option both partners are seriously considering would see Changan making a mid-sized sedan based on a Ford platform in its own production base in Nanjing, close to Shanghai, said a second source.
The sedan will be sold under Changan’s name, but will be priced lower than the comparable Ford model to avoid direct competition. Ford will then get a sizeable share of the proceeds, both sources said.
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By GlobalDataIt is unclear at this stage which of Ford’s car models will be made at Changan’s Nanjing production base, both sources said.
Changan’s spokesman declined to comment, while Ford’s China spokesman, Craig Von Essen, said it was “market speculation”.
“The Changan deal may not add much value to Ford’s only brand in the short term, but it could be the first step toward a wider and deeper relationship like GM and SAIC,” Huang Zherui, an analyst with global industry consultancy CSM Worldwide, told Reuters.
Currently, Changan has been competing mostly with indigenous players in the lower-end passenger car segment, leaving the more lucrative medium-to-higher market segment to locally-built Buick, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Volkswagen Passat models.
SAIC is virtually the only local automaker that has made some inroads in that segment with its Roewe and MG sedans.
FAW Group, a Volkswagen and Toyota Motor partner, has also been making the mid-size Besturn, based on the Mazda 6 platform.
Access to Ford’s technology could raise Changan’s profile and put it on par with its domestic rivals, industry observers said.
