“Serving customers together with CFMA for the last ten years has been an honor for all of us at Ford," said Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford Motor Company. "China and Asia are incredible engines of growth. The hard-working men and women at Ford, at CFMA, in our retail outlets, and throughout our entire supply chain, are excited to work together to serve even more customers with great products and technology that exceed their expectations.”

 

Mulally joined Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford Asia Pacific and Africa (APA), and chairman and CEO of Ford China; CFMA Chairman Xu Liu Ping; Chongqing Mayor Huang Qifan; and other officials and executives for the event.

 

The addition of the new transmission plant brings Ford’s total investment in Asia Pacific and Africa to USD 5 billion.

 

Mulally is in China and Thailand this week reviewing Ford's operations and aggressive expansion in its Asia Pacific and Africa region, as well as attending official meetings and events. He is also participating in Chongqing Mayor Huang's annual international advisory committee meeting.

 

"This new transmission plant, our first in China, will help power the launch of 15 new vehicles in China by 2015," said Hinrichs. "As part of our aggressive growth, we're shifting into high gear. With the seven new plants we're building in Asia Pacific and Africa, including four in China, Ford's capacity in APA will be 2.3 million units by mid-decade. This will allow us to continue to bring more of the high quality, fuel efficient, fun-to-drive vehicles to Asia, that customers want and value."

 

Ford and Changan Motors broke ground for their joint venture ten years ago in this central-China municipality. Since then, CFMA has continued to expand sales and production. In the last ten years CFMA has built and sold more than 1.3 million Ford brand vehicles, including the Focus, Fiesta, Mondeo, and S-Max. CFMA has assembly plants in Chongqing and Nanjing, and an engine plant in Nanjing. 

 

CFMA is building a new USD 490 million assembly plant in Chongqing which will come online in 2012 and is the future home of the new Ford Focus. It is also building a USD 500 million state-of-the-art engine plant in Chongqing.

 

Ford and its commercial vehicle investment Jiangling Motors Corporation (JMC) have an assembly plant in Nanchang, and are investing USD 300 million for an additional assembly plant in Nanchang for Ford and JMC branded vehicles. Ford owns 30 percent of JMC.

 

Ford will bring more than 50 new vehicles and powertrains to APA by mid-decade, including 15 new vehicles to China. 

 

Globally, Ford will increase its sales to 8 million by mid-decade, up from 5.3 million in 2010, with 60-70 percent of the growth coming from its APA region.