Ford to restructure ownership for Mazda's China JV

Mazda and Ford have agreed to spin off the joint venture's factory in Nanjing as a 50-50 joint venture between Mazda and Chongquing while Ford and Chongquing will run the venture's other factory in China, the business paper said.

"The joint venture has been successful over the years," Ford spokesman Mark Truby said in an email to the Free Press on Sunday. "However, all partners are constantly looking at our joint ventures for opportunities to further optimize our business structure and operation so as to continuously improve our products and services to further satisfy our growing customer base in China."

The Free Press first reported in Dec. 8 that Ford is reevaluating its joint ventures in Asia due to its progress with the planned sale of Volvo to Chinese automaker Geely and its reduced ownership of Mazda.

In China, Ford owns 35% of Changan Ford Mazda. Chinese partner Chongqing Changan Automobile holds 50% and Japan's Mazda Motor Corp. the other 15%.

About 70% of its output is Ford-branded vehicles but the joint-venture also produces Volvos for the Chinese market. Ford also reduced its ownership of Mazda from 33% to 13% in November 2008."Given changes in our controlling ownership of Mazda, we're talking among all the partners about what the optimal structure should be for the future," Joe Hinrichs, Ford's president for Asia Pacific and Africa, told the Free Press in December when asked about the Chinese joint venture.