Mazda, Ford to build car plant in Thailand

TOKYO (AFP) – U.S. auto giant Ford and its Japanese partner Mazda said Tuesday they will develop a 500-million-dollar plant to build passenger cars in Thailand, eyeing the growing market in Southeast Asia.
The plant is expected to be operational in 2009 and create 8,000 jobs, 2,000 of them directly and the rest through suppliers and related businesses, Mazda Motor Corp. said in a statement.

Ford Motor Corp. and Mazda, in which the U.S. automaker holds a one third stake, will evenly split the investment of more than 500 million dollars by their joint venture, it said.

The plant will have the capacity to build 100,000 cars a year. It will be constructed in eastern Rayong province next to an existing pick-up truck factory of their joint venture, known as AutoAlliance Thailand.

Mazda said the plant would make use of ""deepening synergies"" with Ford to carry out the Hiroshima-based automaker's growth plans.

""Mazda will make maximum use of the new passenger car plant to enhance our product lineup in Thailand and for other export markets,"" Mazda President Hisakazu Imaki said in the statement.

""In line with the new plant construction, we expect even greater direct and indirect contributions to the Thai economy,"" he said.

Japan's fifth largest automaker, like its rivals, has increasingly focused on foreign markets, including growing emerging economies in Asia, amid sluggish growth at home.

The investment comes despite lingering uncertainty about the Thai economy since the military ousted market-friendly prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra last year.