Ford’s passenger vehicle joint venture in China, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile, on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chongqing municipal government for its first transmission plant in China. The plant, with an initial investment of US$350 million to be entirely funded by CFMA, will produce six-speed automatic transmissions with an initial annual capacity of up to 400,000 units, supplying Ford brand vehicles produced and sold locally by CFMA.
“This transmission plant investment represents yet another important milestone in Ford’s accelerated growth plan for this important market,” said Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford Asia Pacific and Africa. “Together with prior investments announced in the past few years, this new plant demonstrates Ford’s unprecedented commitment to the China market and how we are leveraging advanced global technologies to support our aggressive plan to introduce 15 brand new vehicles to China by 2015.”
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The transmission plant, to be located in Chongqing’s New North Zone, is scheduled to break ground this July and start production in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Marin Burela, president of CFMA, said, “As CFMA’s first transmission plant in China, this project will greatly expand our manufacturing footprint and technical capabilities in China, enabling us to provide an increased level of high-quality and fuel-efficient vehicles with smart technologies to Chinese consumers.”
CFMA manufactures Ford’s Mondeo, Focus, Fiesta and S-Max models as well as Mazda’s 2 and 3. The first of the 15 new models, the redesigned Focus, will go into production in 2012 at a planned US$490m factory in Chongqing with an initial capacity of 150,000 units. It will boost total annual production capacity at CFMA to around 600,000 units by 2012.
CFMA last September signed an MoU with Chongqing Municipal for a new engine plant with a total investment of $500m. It will start construction later this year and is scheduled to begin production in 2013 with an initial annual capacity of 400,000 units.
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By GlobalDataLast 18 July, Ford’s commercial vehicle JV Jiangling Motors (JMC) broke ground for a new $300m assembly plant in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. That venture makes the Transit van for China.
