Changan Ford Mazda to double output in Nanjing

Shanghai, August 20 (Gasgoo.com) Changan Ford Mazda Automobile plans to double its monthly output in its Nanjing plant to 12,000 vehicles later this year, but Changan Mazda's sales target of 60,000 units for 2009 will remain unchanged, xinhuanet.com reported today, citing a company executive.

The JV's second plant in Nanjing currently produces 6,000 vehicles each month, with 2,000 units of Mazda2 and 4,000 units of new Ford Fiesta, and the Mazda2 production has neared the maximum limit. Both the Mazda2 and new Fiesta have achieved better-than-expected sales, which highlights the need to raise their outputs.

In the second half of this year, the Nanjing plant will continue to boost its production by raising the one shift of its staff to two shifts. However, it will take some time to train the workers and ensure the auto parts supply, so the company can only use additional working hours and holidays to ease the output pressure for the moment.

Changan Ford Mazda's second factory was designed for an annual capacity of 16,000 vehicles, and the facility currently only produces Mazda2 and new Ford Fiesta. As the company had over-cautious forecast at the beginning of this year, the plant's capacity is less-than-half used now.

The joint venture will maintain the current 1:2 output distribution for the Mazda2 and new Fiesta. This ratio is decided by the dealerships of the brands: Changan Mazda will have 110 dealerships by the end of this year and Changan Ford has already had about 200 dealerships.