Ford China to build US$760M assembly plant in Hangzhou; doubles current China passenger car capacity to 1.2M units annually by 2015
19 April 2012
Ford will invest US$760 million to build a new assembly plant in Hangzhou, China with its joint venture Changan Ford Mazda Automobile (CFMA), adding initial capacity of 250,000 units. When Hangzhou opens in 2015, Ford’s total passenger car capacity in China will increase to 1.2 million units annually, doubling current output.
The Hangzhou plant announcement comes two weeks after Ford said it will invest US $600 million to expand capacity at its Chongqing facilities by 350,000 passenger cars, and less than six weeks after the company opened Chongqing 2, the home of the New Focus, which increased its China passenger car capacity by one-third to 600,000 units.
The Hangzhou investment will bring Ford’s total investment in China since 2006 to US$4.9 billion.
So far, Ford’s investments in China and across Asia represent its largest and most rapid global expansion in fifty years. This expansion will help us realize an increase in global sales by about 50 percent from 2010 to about 8 million vehicles annually by mid-decade. Building this plant helps lay the foundation for that growth and reconfirms our commitment to China, which is expected to have sales of about 30 million vehicles by 2020.
—Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford Asia Pacific and Africa
Construction of the new plant in Hangzhou will begin later this year, with the first vehicle coming off the line in 2015.
In addition to the recently announced capacity expansion project in Chongqing, CFMA already operates two assembly plants in Chongqing, with a new engine plant as well as a transmission plant currently under construction, making Chongqing the largest manufacturing location for Ford outside southeast Michigan. The joint venture also has an assembly and an engine plant in Nanjing, China.
Ford will unveil four new global vehicles at the upcoming Auto China 2012 in Beijing.
Your american tax cut dollars at work. I don't have any problem with companies building in China, but our tax dollars go to them, including tax cut dollars, which were given without any strings attached. Perhaps we should have offered tax credits that can be redeemed once the company or person provides evidence that they have created jobs in the US. My guess is that the supposed purpose of the tax cuts, that tax cuts would provide job creators with the capital they need to creat jobs, was just a ruse to justify a gift to the wealthy corporations and individuals from the tax payers, who apparently would rather rant about guns and god than be diligent enough to require justice from their representatives.
Posted by: Brotherkenny4 | 19 April 2012 at 09:23 AM
B4...do not confuse Ford with GM. Car manufacturers have to go where manufacturing cost is lower and buyers are and that happens to be in Asia and Brazil in the near future.
Posted by: HarveyD | 19 April 2012 at 09:42 AM
This has to do with providing China with million more cars every year and billions more in profits for Ford every year. China had 10 million cars on the road, soon to be 100 million, then 200 million. We should be wondering where all the oil is coming from for that.
Posted by: SJC | 19 April 2012 at 12:14 PM
Excellent question - where is the oil going to come from? Iraq has a very long way to go before they are at maximum capacity. The Brazilians are drilling like crazy in the Atlantic, and there are new vast reservoirs being discovered regularly in the Gulf of Mexico. There is a race to claim new reserves in the Arctic Ocean above the arctic circle as well. As we have seen, Shell and others are considering major gas-to-liquids refineries in Louisiana. Will this be enough?
Posted by: ejj | 19 April 2012 at 06:53 PM
It could be enough for now, but we will just burn it all up that much faster, add to air pollution, global warming and sink a LOT of the world's resources into petrochemicals and vehicles.
Posted by: SJC | 20 April 2012 at 08:57 AM