Mazda and Ford will build a second manufacturing plant in Thailand.
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Their joint venture, Auto Alliance Thailand, will build the factory to produce small passenger cars. Production will commence in 2009 following an investment of $US500m split between the two companies.
The new plant will be built on the same site as the existing pickup truck plant. The plant will feature a three layer wet paint system, developed by Mazda, which saves space and reduces VOC emissions. The current paint shop facility will be refurbished so it can be used for both the pickups and passenger cars.
In a statement the companies said the assembly line would use Mazda’s production methods and be able to accommodate cars ranging from the B to C-D segments. Capacity would be 100,000 cars a year. The pickup plant currently can produce 175,000 trucks.
Mazda chairman Hisakuzu Imaki said the new car is central to its plans to increase global sales to 1.6m units a year. The car will be sold in Thailand and exported to other countries in Asia, Australasia and Africa.
The Associated Press noted that this is the largest foreign investment in Thailand since last autumn’s army coup.
