Ford expands production with a new plant in China

Ford Motor Company announced that its successful joint venture in China – Changan Ford Mazda Automobile (CFMA) – is building a highly flexible passenger car plant in Chongqing, China, scheduled for completion in 2012.

The investment, valued at $490 million, represents a significant step in Ford’s aggressive expansion strategy in the Asia Pacific and Africa region. The new plant will initially be capable of producing 150,000 units a year, boosting total annual production capacity at CFMA operations to 600,000 units by 2012.

The facility will be equipped with state-of-the-art automation and will be capable of producing a diversified range of products in the future, the plant will begin manufacturing Ford’s next-generation Ford Focus in 2012.

The plant in Chongqing will build upon Ford’s successful CFMA joint-venture operations that already manufacture a broad lineup of Ford brand vehicles for the China market. In addition to the car manufacturing plant already operational in Chongqing – where the Focus, Mondeo and S-MAX are built – the joint venture has a manufacturing facility in Nanjing, China, where the Ford Fiesta is built.

The new 1-million-plus-square-meter assembly plant will be fully integrated to support stamping, body assembly, paint, trim and final assembly. A new paint shop will utilize Ford’s environmentally friendly 3-wet technology paint process, which significantly reduces volatile organic compounds, CO2 emissions and waste.