Ford partnership opens 1st China engine plant

FORD Motor Corp yesterday inaugurated its first engine plant in China as it moves to further localize the production of core auto parts to achieve greater market competitiveness.
       
The US$312.5 million facility, Chang'an Ford Mazda Engine Co Ltd, received investment not only from Ford but also from Mazda Motor Corp and China's Chang'an Automotive Group, which are also involved in a car-making joint venture.

Chang'an holds a 50 percent share in the new plant, and Ford and Mazda each owns 25 percent.
       
Located in Nanjing, in east China's Jiangsu Province, the engine plant has begun production on BZ series engines, one of Ford's most-advanced and fuel-efficient power plants. The facility's annual capacity is 350,000 engines, which will be supplied to Ford and Mazda in China.
       
"CFME represents a critical progression in Ford's long-term vision and growth strategy for the China market,"said Mei-Wei Cheng, chairman and chief executive officer of Ford Motor (China) Ltd.
       
"It will keep us on track to becoming one of the key players in the world's second-largest automotive markets."
       
CFME expects to put additional Ford and Mazda engine series into production in the future.
       
Powered by China's rapidly expanding economy, overseas car makers have accelerated localized production, taking advantage of the country's lower labor costs to make more-affordable cars for Chinese consumers.
       
Ford, a latecomer to the Chinese market compared with General Motors Corp and V olkswagen AG, owns a manufacturing facility in Chongqing in central China that produces Focus, Mondeo, Mazda 3 and Volvo S40 sedans.
       
It is also building a plant in Nanjing to double its China capacity to nearly 400,000 units annually by the year's end.
       
The new engine plant comes on the heels of pledges to add new models, including the Mazda 2 and new Mondeo sedans.
       
Ford's first-quarter China sales rose 16.4 percent to 42,746 units, following a 112 percent sales jump last year